Quadrant Capital Group LLC Trims Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,910 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Down 4.8 %

WMT stock opened at $83.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $666.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.59.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart 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.