Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,540 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.9% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Walmart were worth $1,765,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Bell Bank grew its holdings in Walmart by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 10,987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 8,523 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 5,348 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.77 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.44.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.44%.

Walmart Company 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.