Peoples Bank OH Sells 782 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Peoples Bank OH lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,521 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 782 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Walmart were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc grew its stake in Walmart by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 4,244 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,262 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Walmart by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 139,003 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,224,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spring Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 189.5% in the 3rd quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 84,476 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,821,000 after buying an additional 55,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $97.22 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.25. The company has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.60 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This is a boost from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.