Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stock Position Cut by Addison Advisors LLC

Addison Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,018 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Walmart by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,820,606 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $470,014,000 after buying an additional 2,018,271 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $752.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.89. 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 twelve month low of $58.18 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Walmart Profile

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.