Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,555 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,361,411,000 after buying an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $29,195,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 653,067,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,132,597,369.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,570,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.74, for a total value of $92,221,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 654,825,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,464,435,831.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $29,195,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 653,067,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,132,597,369.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,221,033 shares of company stock valued at $518,194,888 in the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.01.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.38. The stock had a trading volume of 11,795,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,962,526. The company has a 50-day moving average of $60.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $65.69. The company has a market cap of $526.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.52%.

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.