Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 753,887 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,105 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $66,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock worth $697,029,000 after acquiring an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock worth $324,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,512,368 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 48.3% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated 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. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.67.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Walmart
Insider Activity
In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.60, for a total transaction of $166,726.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 649,233 shares in the company, valued at $62,066,674.80. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,431,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,724,989.77. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 142,695 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,162. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Walmart Stock Performance
Walmart stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $95.28. The stock had a trading volume of 3,525,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,058,169. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $96.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.59. The stock has a market cap of $760.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.68.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.
Walmart Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders 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 is currently 40.17%.
About Walmart
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading

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