Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 3,700 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,800 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longview Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $227,000. Legacy Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $311,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 3,026 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors now owns 61,944 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,627,000 after acquiring an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 94,146 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,506,000 after acquiring an additional 11,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $94.70. The company had a trading volume of 34,962,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,282,283. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.63 and a 200 day moving average of $86.44. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.77 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

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.