Apriem Advisors Buys 217 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Apriem Advisors grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,855 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $96.88 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $778.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. 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.