Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,502 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,418,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,393 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,653 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $95.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.10. 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 company has a market cap of $785.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.18 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank raised 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.