Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Purchases 12,666 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 366.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,126 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,666 shares during the quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $91.68 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $736.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.26.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Walmart 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.