Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Position Cut by Saxony Capital Management LLC

Saxony Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,852 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 807 shares during the quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.24 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $66.67 and a one year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $776.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.20.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,518 shares in the company, valued at $62,421,282. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total value of $166,883.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 520,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,332,475.50. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 123,295 shares of company stock worth $11,801,762. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.