Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) by 60.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,290 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22,074 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 188.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,663,172 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,907,000 after acquiring an additional 7,614,172 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 20.5% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 23,497,921 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,413,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004,277 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 435,652,710 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $44,898,368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,835,200 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $294,621,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $273,784,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. DA Davidson set a $150.00 price objective on Walmart and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $127.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Argus raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.10, for a total value of $1,694,437.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,084 shares in the company, valued at $76,308,944.40. This trade represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 34,082 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $4,158,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,466 shares in the company, valued at $65,082,852. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 274,278 shares of company stock valued at $33,825,793. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $124.74 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $124.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $994.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.81 and a 52 week high of $134.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.44% and a net margin of 3.07%.The business had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.13%.

About Walmart

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.