Sigma Planning Corp Sells 21,280 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 108,496 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 21,280 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.44. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 34.44%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.43.

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.