Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 87,530 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,687 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Cape ANN Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 12,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $3,096,000. Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $659,000. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $94.70 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.77 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

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.