Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Lincoln National Corp

Lincoln National Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 27,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 135,774 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,714,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 63.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,748 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 13,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Europe boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.05 during mid-day 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 firm has a market capitalization of $482.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.06. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

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.