Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Wealth Architects LLC

Wealth Architects LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,867 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the quarter. Wealth Architects LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9 %

Walmart stock opened at $85.29 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $685.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.80.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.20.

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.