Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,239 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,716 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $87.57 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $703.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.