Cadence Bank Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cadence Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 70.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,761 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 128,893 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 1.9% of Cadence Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cadence Bank's holdings in Walmart were worth $28,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 178,782 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,305. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.17. 21,350,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,834,649. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $746.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $91.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.33.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Walmart's payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.