Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $5.45 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,292 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,999 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after acquiring an additional 6,860,189 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

WMT stock opened at $89.88 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $720.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028. 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.