Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $177.63 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,965,994 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,533 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $177,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $336,000. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 5,007 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 845.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 518,984 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $41,908,000 after buying an additional 464,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $86.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $693.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.92.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.20.

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.