Jennison Associates LLC Sells 462,468 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Jennison Associates LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,876,980 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 462,468 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.5% of Jennison Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Walmart worth $2,183,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $5,737,355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 worth $697,029,000 after acquiring an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock worth $324,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,512,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Walmart by 48.3% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,182,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

Walmart stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.01. 14,622,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,130,841. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $758.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $96.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.59.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total value of $380,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,060,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,997,734.20. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company'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 transaction of $216,568.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,695 shares of company stock worth $13,710,162 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.