First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,102 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Kepos Capital LP bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.84. 15,464,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,667,314. The firm has a market capitalization of $474.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Europe increased their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

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.