Sabal Trust CO Acquires 682 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sabal Trust CO grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,745 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Walmart were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Walmart from $113.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Barclays increased their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.18 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $95.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.10.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.