GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 11,018 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,440 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,018 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 0.6% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,306,627,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in Walmart by 1,707.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $324,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,512,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Walmart by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $882,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,477 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.50.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $97.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $777.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.63, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $96.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.24. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total value of $217,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 630,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,421,282. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total value of $1,887,041.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,431,783 shares in the company, valued at $430,724,989.77. The trade was a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,688,803 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.