Simmons Bank Cuts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Simmons Bank lowered its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,678 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,859 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 1.7% of Simmons Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $22,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.18 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.10. The company has a market cap of $785.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. 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 0.96%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

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.