Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Boosted by Lansing Street Advisors

Lansing Street Advisors grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,104 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Lansing Street Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.77 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

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.