Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,433,545 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,685 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Walmart were worth $383,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 4.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 78,345 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,351,000 after purchasing an additional 15,448 shares in the last quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 26.6% in the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 32.5% during the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,117,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $338,602,000 after buying an additional 518,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.7% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 48,468 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,751,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last ninety days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.48. The stock had a trading volume of 4,576,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,230,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $487.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.34 and a twelve month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Europe upped their price objective 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.94.

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.