Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Walmart by 6.8%, now holding around $83.66 million worth of shares, marking it as the 20th largest position in their portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for Walmart stocks, with price targets ranging from $108.00 to $130.00 recently updated by various firms.
• Walmart announced a dividend of $0.235 per share scheduled for payment on September 2nd, reflecting a 40.17% payout ratio.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 952,965 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 69,358 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.7% of Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $83,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth $2,532,331,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock worth $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,922,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 28,684.8% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,229,354 shares of the retailer's stock worth $371,295,000 after purchasing an additional 4,214,661 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew 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 during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.29.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $99.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $797.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.52 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $97.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.58.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

About Walmart

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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