Dover Advisors LLC Has $651,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Dover Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 48.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,401 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $94.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.06. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.30 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $751.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.