Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 29,545 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 599,957 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 29,545 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $94,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $558,000. Bridge Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bridge Advisory LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 45,731 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 30,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 19,404 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.86. The company has a market capitalization of $485.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

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.