Saybrook Capital NC Makes New $260,000 Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Saybrook Capital NC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,875 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.8% in the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 581,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $46,916,000 after purchasing an additional 254,232 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.3% in the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 62,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $4,829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of WMT opened at $91.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $736.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.35.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

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.