Claris Advisors LLC MO Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Claris Advisors LLC MO grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 53.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,908 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,443 shares during the quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO’s holdings in Walmart were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 buying an additional 7,860,306 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after buying an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.50.

Walmart Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $752.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.41 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $96.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.