Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Has $478,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 37.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,446 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,204 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings in Walmart were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after buying an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.57. 29,968,085 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,890,104. The stock's fifty day moving average is $93.46 and its 200 day moving average is $93.41. The stock has a market cap of $788.65 billion, a PE ratio of 40.90, 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 quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.16 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,334 shares of company stock worth $12,615,864. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.