Mengis Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,336 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $752.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.18 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.89.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for 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 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

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.