Walmart is a private corporation that helps benefit its employees and help them take part in the success of the company. Walmart offers attractive stock purchase plans for its employees. The name of Walmart’s Stock purchase program is ASPP (Associate Stock Purchase Program). Read more Walmart Stock Purchase Program.
Understanding The ASPP Program
Generally, companies provide ESPPs (Employee Stock Purchase programs) to their employees. In ESPPs employees can avail of a 15% discount on their stock purchase to a certain maximum limit. Walmart’s ASPP program does not work like that.
Instead of providing a 15% discount, Walmart matches the purchase made by the employee to 15%, and the maximum benefit that can be availed by an employee is no more than $270. Here “matches” means, when an employee purchases stocks of Walmart, Walmart will provide additional stock to the individual up to 15% of the investment made by the employee.
To max out the benefit or to avail the total $270 worth of benefits(Stocks), an employee must buy $1800 worth of Walmart stocks.
An associate has to pay a one-time enrollment fee of $20 and make an initial investment of minimum $250 to enrol on Walmart’s ASPP Program. If the associate does not want to part with that amount in one go, Walmart has provided another option. In this option, the associate must commit to 10 automatic deposits from their pay checks, which will ultimately sum up to $250. Read more Walmart Stock Purchase Program.
The Associate Stock Option Program of Walmart is considered very beneficial to the employees. Although this process ultimately benefits the company. A part of the salaries they pay to their employees as expense comes back to their accounts as investments.
Who Should Enrol To This Program?
This scheme is made to benefit both the employees with the hope of a better future for Walmart (Only then the stock price will rise eventually benefitting the employee) and Walmart itself, as the investment made by the employees will help it grow.
People who intend to be with Walmart for the long term should go for this program. It is because this program gives you more of Walmart shares, and not a direct cash benefit. So, to receive the growth in the Walmart shares, you need to stay invested for the long term. People who anticipate leaving the company within a few years may not be able to receive the complete benefits of this program.
Why Enrol Into This Program?
Walmart is an American multinational retail chain. It has been the world’s largest company by revenue since 2013. Its revenue was US$548.743 billion in the year 2020. Walmart is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is part of the NASDAQ Composite Index.
Within 25 years, from 1975 to 2000, Walmart has made 9 stock splits of 2 shares for each share held. Also, since 2016 Walmart has been giving up to $0.5 dividends per share every quarter. Walmart is considered a safe investment option by its investors. It has withered through some of the deepest recessions in the US economy.
With the help of this program, an employee can grow their investments along with the additional benefit provided by Walmart. Investments and Savings are crucial for the long-term stability of finances, and through this program, an individual can easily grow their investments in a stable company along with additional benefits.
Walmart’s stock price as of 10th November 2021 was USD 148.44. Its stock price has surged 27.5% and 21.3% in the years 2019 and 2020 alone. Along with better than average returns, Walmart has consistently provided good dividends to its investors for the past 5 years. Therefore, employees of Walmart should gladly enrol themselves on this program which is tailor-made for them.
What’s in it for Walmart?
Providing employees with financial benefits and privileges of being with the company is a common practice followed by most successful companies. The company needs to keep its employees happy to extract maximum services from them. The ASPP program is just another way of providing benefits to the employees.
The major difference between Walmart’s ASPP program and a normal ESPP is the benefits given by them. The ASPP program offers more shares to the employee, while ESPP gives discounts on the investment. This simply shows Walmart wants more of its stake distributed in small proportions with its employees or retail investors.
Walmart allows a maximum of $125,000 stock purchase in one year by an employer. Although the maximum benefit that can be availed is $270. This programme helps Walmart keep its employees happy and satisfied while enjoying the benefits of additional investment (by the employees) at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who can enrol into the Stock Purchase Plan of Walmart?
Any employee or associate of Walmart is eligible to take part in Walmart’s Stock Purchase programme.
- What is the maximum benefit that an employee can avail of via this programme?
Walmart has set the maximum limit to $270. To avail of the maximum benefit, an employee must make an investment of $1800. The benefit is provided in the form of Walmart shares, 15% of the investment made by the employee.
- Can I liquidate my positions at any time during the programme?
Yes, an employee can liquidate his position anytime he wants. You just have to pay a nominal fee of $25.5, and 5 cents per share. The flexibility of exit options is another benefit provided by Walmart to its employees.
