Indie Asset Partners LLC Sells 407 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Indie Asset Partners LLC lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,276 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 407 shares during the period. Indie Asset Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 8,523 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 5,348 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Dahring Cusmano LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

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.