Gray Wealth Management Inc. Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,682 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,382 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.2% of Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.29 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $685.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $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 a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company 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.