Certuity LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Certuity LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 38.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,820 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 26.6% during the third quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,398,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Walmart by 28.0% during the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 767,013 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,668,000 after purchasing an additional 167,800 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,480,971 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $235,608,000 after purchasing an additional 21,899 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 32.5% during the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,117,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $338,602,000 after purchasing an additional 518,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 48,468 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,751,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, 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 value of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,358,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,621,055. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.34 and a 12 month high of $61.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.86. The company has a market cap of $478.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Europe upped their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

About Walmart

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.