TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 967,904 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 42,050 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $87,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,289,419,000 after buying an additional 6,860,189 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,332,475.50. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,782 shares of company stock worth $16,785,305 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of WMT opened at $93.17 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $746.93 billion, a PE ratio of 38.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company's fifty day moving average is $91.52 and its 200 day moving average is $90.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Walmart's payout ratio 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.

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