United Services Automobile Association Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

United Services Automobile Association reduced its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,687 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 139,411 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 13,361 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 5,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Walmart by 26.5% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 38,525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,111,000 after buying an additional 8,077 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.94 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.12. The company has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.