National Pension Service Has $383.65 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,433,545 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 54,685 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.09% of Walmart worth $383,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 46.1% in 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 last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $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% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Walmart by 161.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $182,499,000 after acquiring an additional 715,125 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $60.48. The stock had a trading volume of 4,576,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,230,852. The stock has a market cap of $487.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.12. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the business’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 directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last ninety days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMT shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Four equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

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.