16,416 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Bought by Aspire Growth Partners LLC

Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,416 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,483,000. Walmart accounts for about 1.5% of Aspire Growth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $626,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 79,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,176,000 after acquiring an additional 7,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMT shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $1.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $98.73. The stock had a trading volume of 16,026,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,851,074. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $789.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.97, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $90.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.47. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $59.39 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.19, for a total value of $2,743,189.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,480,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $422,003,883.93. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 169,657 shares of company stock valued at $15,984,929. Insiders own 45.58% 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.