Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,693 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,597 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 2.7% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $14,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes 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. lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $96.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $778.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.23. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued 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 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.