RiverFront Investment Group LLC Purchases 82,744 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 129.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,730 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,744 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after buying an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% during 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Walmart by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,361,411,000 after acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after purchasing an additional 78,981 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $60.24 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.86. The company has a market capitalization of $485.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

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.