Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Hyman Charles D

Hyman Charles D boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,280 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Hyman Charles D’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after buying an additional 1,317,729 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Walmart by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,081,120,000 after acquiring an additional 78,981 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

WMT traded up $0.73 on Tuesday, reaching $60.60. 14,517,142 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,471,379. The company has a market cap of $488.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.12. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last ninety days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by 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.