Cullen Capital Management LLC Sells 2,679 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cullen Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,028 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,679 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,796,129,000 after acquiring an additional 514,036 shares in 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 John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $83.09 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $666.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.52.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

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.