Boston Family Office LLC Cuts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Boston Family Office LLC decreased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,112 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,532,331,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 33,292,749 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,922,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,706,201 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 28,684.8% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,229,354 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $371,295,000 after buying an additional 4,214,661 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:WMT opened at $99.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $72.52 and a one year high of $105.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.58.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 90.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $1,248,712.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total transaction of $1,855,781.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,412,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $421,737,000.84. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,334 shares of company stock worth $13,913,350 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.29.

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.