Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,055,689 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17,345 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Walmart were worth $185,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,263 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 163,487 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Spreng Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Spreng Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,119 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Walmart by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 4,817 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Waddell & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 38,553 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $89.77 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $719.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $92.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.73.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. The trade was a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

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.