FourThought Financial Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 59,963 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,418,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.2 %

Walmart stock opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.18 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $752.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during 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 expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

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.