Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 60,077 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 706 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Kepos Capital LP purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.82. 14,207,397 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.02. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.34 and a 52 week high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

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.