Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 344,781 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,581,550 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 344,781 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.39% of Walmart worth $2,853,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 108.8% during the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.8% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 3,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Walmart by 66.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 3,037,249 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $245,258,000 after buying an additional 1,213,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 72,203 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,830,000 after buying an additional 2,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Truist Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $783.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.40 and a 12-month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.