Somerset Group LLC Takes $212,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Somerset Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,343 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $2,306,627,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after buying an additional 6,860,189 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $85.94 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.