Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Sells 624 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,025 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 624 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 212,210 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,173,000 after purchasing an additional 7,117 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $223,000. Finally, Maripau Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,777 shares of company stock worth $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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 report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.