Independence Financial Advisors LLC Invests $336,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Independence Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,831 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 9,896.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $697,029,000 after purchasing an additional 7,860,306 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its stake in Walmart by 1,707.6% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $324,410,000 after acquiring an additional 3,512,368 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Walmart by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $882,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Walmart from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.67.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total value of $380,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,056,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,511,128.70. This trade represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 19,416 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.58, for a total transaction of $1,855,781.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,412,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $421,737,000.84. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,112 shares of company stock valued at $14,078,027 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $98.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $785.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

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.