Eastern Bank Sells 129,297 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Eastern Bank trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,214,643 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 129,297 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 2.1% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $106,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in Walmart by 95.2% during the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth about $49,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,700,258.82. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $98.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $785.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 4.70 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.91.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 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 analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.