Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,329 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 11,862 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $17,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,796,129,000 after purchasing an additional 514,036 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $2.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $94.91. 27,735,388 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,697,855. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $92.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.95. The firm has a market cap of $760.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

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.