Godsey & Gibb Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,406 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.16.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $97.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.84. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.64 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $779.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock worth $12,833,664 in the last three months. 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.