Black Diamond Financial LLC Has $507,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Black Diamond Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,616 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.70 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $105.30. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

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.