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

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,102 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,672 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.7% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Vicus Capital increased its holdings in Walmart by 9.2% in the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,752 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% in the third quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 54,597 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,732,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Walmart by 65.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 350,714 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,090,000 after buying an additional 138,770 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.8% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $219,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded down $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.84. The stock had a trading volume of 15,464,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,667,314. The firm has a market capitalization of $474.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.34 and a 1-year high of $61.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Europe upped their target price on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

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.