TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,817 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $9,965,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 713,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $57,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,022 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,072,000. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 26,801 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $81.59 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $654.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.10 and a 200 day moving average of $89.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.