Intellus Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,897 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $85.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.19 and a 200 day moving average of $88.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s dividend 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.