Woodstock Corp Sells 265 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Woodstock Corp lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,267 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Financial Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the third quarter. Financial Advisory Group now owns 6,950 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $901,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the third quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 6,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the third quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 2,725 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Northstar Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 17,372 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,253,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 13,759 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 target price on Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays started coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $159.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $164.00 to $169.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Tigress Financial upgraded Walmart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $139.40 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $117.27 and a one year high of $160.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $375.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $142.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.20. Walmart had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 20.45%. The business had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 52.34%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 1,077,204 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.08, for a total transaction of $148,740,328.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 259,481,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,829,167,548. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 563,717 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.26, for a total transaction of $80,194,380.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,873,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,680,924,595.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 1,077,204 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.08, for a total transaction of $148,740,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 259,481,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,829,167,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,830,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,378,798,478 in the last ninety days. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.