Northern Financial Advisors Inc Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,171 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.5% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after purchasing an additional 751,713 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after buying an additional 426,388 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,081,120,000 after purchasing an additional 78,981 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Europe raised their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

Walmart Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMT traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.42. 4,229,956 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,306,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $486.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders 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 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.