Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 1,663 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,345 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,663 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.1% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.60 and a 200 day moving average of $86.89. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.18 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $752.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 194,377 shares of company stock worth $18,231,904 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.