CORDA Investment Management LLC. Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

CORDA Investment Management LLC. increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,722 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 19,527 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,535,178 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $138,703,000 after buying an additional 44,274 shares in the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 23,310 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 707,083 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $63,885,000 after acquiring an additional 388,295 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $96.88 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $778.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.23.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

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.