Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Takes $302,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,346 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. One equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day moving average of $87.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 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.