Board of the Pension Protection Fund Has $878,000 Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund reduced its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,400 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund's holdings in Walmart were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock worth $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,512,368 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $106.50.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.21. The company had a trading volume of 11,226,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,013,769. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.26. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.67 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $783.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors 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 yield of 0.95%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total value of $380,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,060,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,997,734.20. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $1,887,041.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,431,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,724,989.77. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,511 shares of company stock worth $13,493,751. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.