Sheets Smith Wealth Management Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,898 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Walmart by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,491,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,359 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.5% during 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 161.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $182,499,000 after purchasing an additional 715,125 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.09 on Monday, reaching $59.73. 6,133,998 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,455,996. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.02. The firm has a market cap of $481.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. 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, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 652,044,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently 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.