B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 210,646 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 51,441 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $682.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.40. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 147,528 shares of company stock worth $14,096,140. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.