Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,128 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Walmart were worth $17,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $553,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,530 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,491,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,359 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Walmart by 161.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,157,620 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $182,499,000 after purchasing an additional 715,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

Walmart Stock Up 1.0 %

WMT stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $60.47. 9,660,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,413,176. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average is $56.06. The company has a market cap of $487.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

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.