Financial Counselors Inc. Has $81.50 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 902,012 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 31,500 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.2% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $81,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Davis R M Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 12,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Elios Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $84.69 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $678.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.25. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 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.