Wealthspire Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 33.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,330 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.30. 10,889,715 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,387,223. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $485.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

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.