National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,883,034 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,456 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 0.8% of National Pension Service’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned 0.11% of Walmart worth $802,582,000 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. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $95.65 and a 200 day moving average of $87.10. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.18 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.