Whittier Trust Co. Buys 8,655 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,697 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $24,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.17.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.94. The company had a trading volume of 26,766,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,960,434. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $95.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

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.