Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 44.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,982 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 39,494 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $538,000. Circle Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 7.3% in the third quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 53.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,820,606 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $470,014,000 after buying an additional 2,018,271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,528 shares of company stock worth $14,096,140 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $85.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $682.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.