Alberta Investment Management Corp Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.63 and a 200 day moving average of $86.44. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.77 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.02%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

About Walmart

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.