Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,118 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,289,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860,189 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $88.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $711.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.