Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,237 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.77, for a total value of $166,795.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 650,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,693,090.29. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 630,518 shares in the company, valued at $62,421,282. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,294 shares of company stock worth $12,656,659 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.50.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $94.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $752.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.55 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $96.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.11.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

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.