Assetmark Inc. Has $23.17 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Walmart Inc. by 98.4% in the 1st quarter, owning 263,957 shares valued at approximately $23.17 million.
• Walmart reported a Q1 EPS of $0.61, exceeding analysts' estimates, and saw a 2.5% increase in revenue year-over-year worth $165.61 billion.
• Insider selling has occurred recently at Walmart, with executives offloading over 126,000 shares worth more than $12 million in total during the last 90 days.

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 98.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 263,957 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 130,887 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its stake in Walmart by 1,707.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Walmart by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $882,282,000 after buying an additional 3,182,477 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $97.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $777.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.68. The company's fifty day moving average is $96.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.81. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,744 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total transaction of $166,726.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 649,233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,066,674.80. The trade was a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 126,696 shares of company stock worth $12,222,245 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $103.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.67.

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.

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