American National Bank & Trust Buys 20,878 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,638 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 20,878 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 2.8% of American National Bank & Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Walmart were worth $24,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Walmart by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,289,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1%

Walmart stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $99.82. 16,974,523 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,886,141. The company's 50-day moving average is $93.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.16 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $798.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. 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 presently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73% 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 Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares in the company, valued at $49,332,475.50. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,334 shares of company stock worth $12,615,864. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.