BankPlus Trust Department Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,007 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its stake in Walmart by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.71.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.44%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Walmart

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.