Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,912 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,985 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 15,021 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,651,446 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $222,293,000 after purchasing an additional 11,213 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 11.3% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 18,745 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Partners in Financial Planning grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the first quarter. Partners in Financial Planning now owns 6,231 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.0% during the first quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,988 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 7,390 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of WMT opened at $97.11 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $97.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $774.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.50, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.67 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid 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 presently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 650,977 shares in the company, valued at $61,693,090.29. This trade represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total transaction of $1,887,041.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,431,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,724,989.77. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 142,711 shares of company stock worth $13,710,319. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.