Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 25,964 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,790 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25,964 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.7% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Walmart by 21.7% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 561,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,301,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. BBR Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 67,398 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,442,000 after purchasing an additional 18,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,900,850 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $153,494,000 after acquiring an additional 82,106 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $85.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.20. The company has a market cap of $686.37 billion, a PE ratio of 35.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.