Private Trust Co. NA Sells 1,546 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Private Trust Co. NA cut its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,503 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,546 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Walmart stock opened at $96.88 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.20 and a one year high of $105.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.77 and its 200 day moving average is $87.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $778.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.