Marco Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Marco Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,988 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 1.4% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $553,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,530 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,491,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $718,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,359 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 161.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $182,499,000 after acquiring an additional 715,125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.98 and its 200 day moving average is $55.86. The company has a market capitalization of $485.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Europe upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Walmart Company 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.