Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 33,321 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Financial Counselors Inc. lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 868,691 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 33,321 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.2% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $76,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock worth $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Walmart by 1,707.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Walmart by 48.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $882,282,000 after buying an additional 3,182,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $98.29 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.14 and a 200 day moving average of $94.36. The company has a market cap of $784.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.67 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,619,848.90. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,716,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock worth $13,710,319. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.