LifeSteps Financial Inc. Acquires 385 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,523 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade 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 valued at $16,570,112 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.44. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $57.77 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.