NEOS Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 232,999 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,002 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $21,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4 %

WMT opened at $85.13 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $682.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.17.

About Walmart

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.