Cottage Street Advisors LLC Has $334,000 Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,699 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $84.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.00 and a 200 day moving average of $89.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $678.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Company 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.