Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Increased by One Day In July LLC

One Day In July LLC grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,914 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 6.5 %

NYSE WMT opened at $97.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $95.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.25. The company has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.60 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. This is an increase from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

Walmart Company 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.