Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,784 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,574 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its stake in Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $96.88 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $778.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.