Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Has $5.82 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,244 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 9,896.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $697,029,000 after acquiring an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in Walmart by 1,707.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $103.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.50.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $98.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $784.08 billion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.67 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.29.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.77, for a total value of $166,795.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 650,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,693,090.29. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total value of $380,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,060,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,997,734.20. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,511 shares of company stock valued at $13,493,751 over the last three months. Corporate 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.