Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,451 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,737,355,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,796,129,000 after buying an additional 514,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7%

WMT stock opened at $98.29 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $784.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.00, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $1,887,041.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,431,783 shares in the company, valued at $430,724,989.77. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total value of $380,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,060,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,997,734.20. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock worth $13,710,319 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Company 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.