Bridges Investment Management Inc. Purchases 9,162 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,389 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,162 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Maia Wealth LLC increased its position in Walmart by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 7,421 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,454 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $610,000. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $302,000. Finally, PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $752,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.58. The company has a market cap of $792.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.20 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.