Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,776 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Chicago Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 31,320 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 14,471 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,270,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 48,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,263,000 after acquiring an additional 6,227 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,060 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Finally, WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at about $584,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.50.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $752.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.41 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.11.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total value of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 630,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,421,282. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.