Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $36.80 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 407,263 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 52,547 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.9% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $36,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,796,129,000 after acquiring an additional 514,036 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $89.88 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $94.38 and its 200 day moving average is $89.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $720.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.