Brown Financial Advisory Purchases Shares of 2,737 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Brown Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,737 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 worth $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,796,129,000 after purchasing an additional 514,036 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WMT shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9%

WMT stock opened at $99.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $792.22 billion, a PE ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.41. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.67 and a 52 week 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.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,451,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $2,716,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,252,135. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 142,711 shares of company stock worth $13,710,319 in the last ninety days. 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.

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