Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Boosted by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 111,553 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,342 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 319.7% during the first quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 98.2% during the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 432.4% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 95.2% during the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WMT opened at $100.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $805.28 billion, a PE ratio of 43.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.66. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.52 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.58.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $2,716,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,334 shares of company stock valued at $13,913,350. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.47.

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.