Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 167,007 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $26,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $553,545,000 after buying an additional 3,488,530 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Walmart by 46.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,491,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 161.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $182,499,000 after purchasing an additional 715,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Europe increased their target price 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $59.87. The company had a trading volume of 11,117,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,516,809. The stock has a market cap of $482.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.06.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

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.