Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 2,582 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 725,508 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,582 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $63,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.24 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $776.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $66.67 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares in the company, valued at $49,332,475.50. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,295 shares of company stock worth $11,801,762 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.