Clearstead Trust LLC Acquires 400 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 30.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,719 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $553,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 46.1% in 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Walmart by 161.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $182,499,000 after buying an additional 715,125 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $59.82. 14,207,397 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.02. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.34 and a twelve month high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $482.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 over the last three months. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.