Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $93.89 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,039,149 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 244,551 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $93,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 133,857 shares of company stock worth $12,444,743. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $98.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $786.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.77, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.87 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.