New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,428,785 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 369,200 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.7% of New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.07% of Walmart worth $476,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,512,368 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,182,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5%

WMT stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.36. The stock had a trading volume of 14,577,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,135,436. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $66.67 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company's 50 day moving average is $97.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.51. The company has a market capitalization of $753.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 630,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,421,282. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $2,716,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

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.