GWN Securities Inc. Acquires New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 49,321 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,658,000. Walmart makes up approximately 1.2% of GWN Securities Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $103.20.

Walmart Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of WMT traded up $2.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $87.75. The stock had a trading volume of 17,635,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,840,263. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $95.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.80. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $704.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Company 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.