Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 162.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,099 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,154 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Motco increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 58,301 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,191,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the period. Oak Family Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 201.4% in the 1st quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 112,816 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,788,000 after acquiring an additional 75,383 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 78,345 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,351,000 after acquiring an additional 15,448 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $2,340,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares in the company, valued at $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,763,075 shares of company stock valued at $1,239,224,994 over the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6 %

WMT traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $64.85. 16,214,882 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,767,791. The company has a market cap of $522.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $65.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 35.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.01.

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.