Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by SWS Partners

SWS Partners raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,604 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. SWS Partners’ holdings in Walmart were worth $2,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $783.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.88. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.40 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Walmart Company 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.