Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 2,704 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 11.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,864 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,704 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $1,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Walmart by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer's stock worth $24,532,000 after acquiring an additional 19,233 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $4,658,000. Full Sail Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 8,702 shares of the retailer's stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 3,154 shares of the retailer's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scalar Gauge Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 76.9% in the fourth quarter. Scalar Gauge Management LLC now owns 69,000 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,234,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 945,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total value of $2,815,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,451,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.67.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.36. 14,577,628 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,111,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $97.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.48. The company has a market cap of $753.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.