Sienna Gestion Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sienna Gestion reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 15.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,557 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14,998 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 73,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,482,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Walmart by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 135,861 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,927,000 after buying an additional 6,841 shares in the last quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. increased its position in Walmart by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. now owns 309,942 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,211,000 after buying an additional 18,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Walmart by 4.8% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,313,331 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $817,617,000 after purchasing an additional 430,297 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.87.

Walmart Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $101.05 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.85 and a twelve month high of $105.30. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.42 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a yield of 90.0%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart 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.