Watchman Group Inc. Sells 841 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Watchman Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,658 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 841 shares during the period. Watchman Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $85.08 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.62 and its 200 day moving average is $89.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $682.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 147,528 shares of company stock worth $14,096,140. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.