Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,581,550 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 344,781 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,853,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of WMT opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.04 and its 200 day moving average is $87.88. The company has a market capitalization of $783.17 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.40 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.