Retirement Planning Group LLC Sells 2,801 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Retirement Planning Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,896 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,801 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WMT. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.94.

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 Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,451,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,583 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,404 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.67. The company had a trading volume of 5,846,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,814,546. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.16 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $92.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.12. The stock has a market cap of $781.41 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business's quarterly 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 fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

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.