Ewa LLC Acquires 203 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ewa LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,962 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the quarter. Ewa LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $553,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 46.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,491,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,271,000 after buying an additional 1,416,359 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after buying an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 161.6% in the fourth 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 period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total value of $21,020,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 652,044,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 345,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.93, for a total transaction of $21,020,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 652,044,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,729,056,822.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 1.5 %

Walmart stock opened at $59.32 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The stock has a market cap of $478.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.90.

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 firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

About Walmart

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.