Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 53,228 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 807,690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 53,228 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $72,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $237,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 132,180 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 10,090 shares during the period. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 15.4% during the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 4,292 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $91.68 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $736.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.44. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.