Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,454 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 271 shares during the quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after buying an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 6,987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 37,713 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. lifted its stake in Walmart by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 8,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $1,261,968.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,293,612.80. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $98.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $792.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.20 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.71.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given 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 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 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.