Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 15,448 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,345 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 15,448 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Walmart by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after purchasing an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after purchasing an additional 78,981 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.82. The stock had a trading volume of 13,538,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,602,846. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.03 and a 200 day moving average of $55.95. The company has a market cap of $482.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

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.