Lincoln National Corp Has $4.29 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 135,774 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,714,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 63.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,748 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 3,772 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 0.9% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 34.8% in the third quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 9.0% during the third quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 13,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,117,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,516,809. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.06. 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 company has a market capitalization of $482.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

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.