Ballast Advisors LLC Acquires 250 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,746 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% during 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $336,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,511,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 48.0% during the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $687.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.34 and its 200 day moving average is $88.89. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

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.