Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $1.43 Billion Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,787,171 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 789 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.3% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,426,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth approximately $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 10.9% during the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $504,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,782 shares of company stock worth $16,785,305. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $93.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $746.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.26.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. 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 1.01%. Walmart’s dividend 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.