Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan cut its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 85,500 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 34,500 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 0.9% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Walmart Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.40 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $96.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $783.17 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.