Westpac Banking Corp Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 52.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,287 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Walmart were worth $3,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock worth $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $270,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,828,000. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 35,280 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,849,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD bought a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $787,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.17.

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Walmart Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $2.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $87.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 32,983,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,069,447. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $698.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.50. 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 (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

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