Custos Family Office LLC Takes $205,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Custos Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,274 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,072,000. Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in Walmart by 209.7% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after buying an additional 599,257 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,355,000 after buying an additional 9,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iowa State Bank raised its holdings in Walmart by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $87.54 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.67 and its 200 day moving average is $88.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $703.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.