Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 0.5% of Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.40% of Walmart worth $2,893,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904 in the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $752.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.18 and a one year high of $105.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.89. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.