Marshall Investment Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,530 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,939,000. Walmart comprises 1.7% of Marshall Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.77 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.