Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC Purchases 1,225 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,999 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Seven Mile Advisory increased its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 3,953 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,806 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 4.1% during the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.82. The stock had a trading volume of 14,207,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.34 and a twelve month high of $61.65. The firm has a market cap of $482.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 in the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Europe raised their target price on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

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.