Fiduciary Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,958 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,059 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 145,400 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,543,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 877,109 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,247,000 after acquiring an additional 10,070 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Walmart by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $882,282,000 after acquiring an additional 3,182,477 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,671 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 179,650 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,857 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,743 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $97.42 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.62 and a 200-day moving average of $91.81. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.44 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $779.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.94.

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.