Arlington Partners LLC Has $3.73 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Arlington Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,485 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 4,417 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $3,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $1.04 on Thursday, hitting $96.22. The stock had a trading volume of 19,330,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,951,949. The stock has a market cap of $767.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.69. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.67 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The business's 50 day moving average is $96.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.20.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current 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. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total transaction of $380,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $100,997,734.20. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total value of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 123,295 shares of company stock valued at $11,801,762 in the last quarter. Company 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.