Windward Capital Management Co. CA Cuts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Windward Capital Management Co. CA lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,149 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 8,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management increased its holdings in Walmart by 94.2% during the 1st quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 55,004 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after acquiring an additional 26,685 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Walmart by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,959,752 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $698,787,000 after acquiring an additional 838,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 156.7% during the 1st quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 54,659 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,799,000 after acquiring an additional 33,370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $109.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $2,716,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,064,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,252,135. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $99.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $797.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.52 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.58.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

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.