Boston Partners Lowers Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. by 26.3%, owning 58,872 shares worth $5,168,000 after selling 20,970 shares in Q1.
• Other investors, such as Operose Advisors and Clal Insurance, significantly increased their Walmart holdings by rates of up to 432.4% in the same quarter.
• Walmart announced a dividend of $0.235 per share, with a payout ratio of 40.17%, scheduled to be paid on September 2nd.

Boston Partners lowered its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 26.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,872 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 20,970 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners' holdings in Walmart were worth $5,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 319.7% in the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 432.4% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 95.2% in the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 932,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.30, for a total transaction of $216,260.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 626,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,547,399.40. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.29.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9%

WMT stock opened at $99.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $797.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.52 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $97.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.58.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Walmart 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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