Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Position Lifted by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 152,475 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 85,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $2,048,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 29,897 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.71. The firm has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.44%.

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.