Sienna Gestion Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sienna Gestion lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,557 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 14,998 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion's holdings in Walmart were worth $6,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 425,961,042 shares of the retailer's stock worth $37,395,120,000 after buying an additional 3,224,154 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,922,770,000 after buying an additional 7,706,201 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 29,843,892 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,696,396,000 after acquiring an additional 233,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,188,142 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,562,427,000 after acquiring an additional 823,020 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their price target 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 upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.87.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $101.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $806.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average is $97.49 and its 200 day moving average is $95.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $67.85 and a one year high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Walmart's payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $1,248,712.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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