Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires 9,877 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 205.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,693 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 9,877 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Walmart were worth $1,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer's stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $504,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,782 shares of company stock worth $16,785,305 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT traded up $1.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,350,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,819,973. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $91.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $746.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Walmart 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.