Proffitt & Goodson Inc. Cuts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Proffitt & Goodson Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,508 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Proffitt & Goodson Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $98.65 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $58.20 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart 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.