Summit Global Investments Sells 23,399 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Summit Global Investments lowered its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,783 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 23,399 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Walmart were worth $4,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after buying an additional 1,317,729 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,361,411,000 after purchasing an additional 562,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after purchasing an additional 78,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE WMT traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $59.75. 11,966,129 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,580,549. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.92. The firm has a market cap of $481.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,016,140 shares of company stock worth $1,695,868,391. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.