CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 548,444 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,921 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 1.2% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $48,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WMT opened at $94.24 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.55 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.13 and a 200 day moving average of $94.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $752.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total value of $374,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,096,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,518,542.50. The trade was a 0.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,294 shares of company stock worth $12,656,659. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Profile

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.