TCTC Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,019 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,091 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 98.2% in the first quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 95.2% during the first quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the first quarter valued at $49,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,112 shares of company stock worth $14,078,027 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1%

WMT opened at $97.57 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.67 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.89. The company has a market cap of $778.65 billion, a PE ratio of 41.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.68.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. 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%.

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.