Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 106,972 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,487 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $5,737,355,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $2,306,627,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,289,419,000 after buying an additional 6,860,189 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE WMT opened at $83.09 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. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $666.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Walmart Company 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.