Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 2,312 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,312 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.6 %

WMT opened at $96.11 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.20 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $772.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $95.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.17.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.