Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,901 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,901 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $895,000. Walmart makes up about 0.7% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $2.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $87.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,594,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,834,122. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.74 and a 200 day moving average of $88.80. The company has a market capitalization of $705.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $103.20.

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.