Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by GDS Wealth Management

GDS Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,953 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,608 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for 1.6% of GDS Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 751,713 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the third 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 position 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 buying an additional 78,981 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $0.15 on Thursday, hitting $60.45. 14,549,570 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,339,270. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.15. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The firm has a market cap of $487.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

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.