Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $2.69 Billion Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,601,633 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,419,167 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 0.5% of Bank of New York Mellon Corp's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.38% of Walmart worth $2,686,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.29. 7,686,204 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,068,909. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.67 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $97.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.35. The company has a market cap of $784.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.68.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at $90,619,848.90. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319 over the last ninety days. 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.