Athena Investment Management Sells 1,245 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Athena Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,605 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,245 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.20 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day moving average of $87.44.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 188,777 shares of company stock worth $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

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.