Townsend & Associates Inc Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Townsend & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 87.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,082 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 34,173 shares during the quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $651,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Walmart by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 347,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,736,000 after buying an additional 98,712 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,061,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY raised its position in Walmart by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 31,517 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,041,000 after buying an additional 3,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 4,167 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,386,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,239,174. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.34 and a 12-month high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $487.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

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.