Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Buys 30,369 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 578,794 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 30,369 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $52,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer's stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Walmart by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.17.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $1.62 on Monday, hitting $86.77. 10,197,863 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,074,613. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $695.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

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.