Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,776 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TFR Capital LLC. lifted its stake in Walmart by 100.3% in the first quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 7,498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 3,755 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the first quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.8% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 155,235 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,628,000 after buying an additional 4,199 shares during the last quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 214.9% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 2,412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5%

Walmart stock opened at $94.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.68. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.67 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $97.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. Walmart’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.19, for a total value of $1,887,041.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,431,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,724,989.77. This represents a 0.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at $61,851,623.92. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 142,711 shares of company stock valued at $13,710,319 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.