Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 352,750 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 40,699 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Walmart were worth $31,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $237,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 132,180 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,674,000 after buying an additional 10,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 15.4% during the third quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 4,292 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Remove Ads

Walmart Trading Down 2.0 %

Walmart stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $85.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,459,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,768,452. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $96.07 and a 200-day moving average of $88.61. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $688.71 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. 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 1.10%. Walmart's payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business's 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 owns 3,785,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.