South Dakota Investment Council Has $15.71 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 173,927 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 50,581 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire increased its position in Walmart by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank increased its position in Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

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.