Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Sells 360 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,753 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 360 shares during the quarter. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,306,627,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860,189 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $87.56 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.19. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $701.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 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.