Lutz Financial Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lutz Financial Services LLC trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,518 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Lutz Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Walmart by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 34,666 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,763,000 after buying an additional 5,461 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 42,257 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,412,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 8,369 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 78,648 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,351,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.57. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

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.