Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,990,804 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 270,731 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.10% of Walmart worth $721,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 177,022 shares of company stock worth $16,618,422. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $91.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.09. 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 $731.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.