Ethos Financial Group LLC Has $1.33 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ethos Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,620 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm restated 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $96.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.09. The firm has a market cap of $771.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

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. 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 analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.