8,346 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Bought by Vista Investment Partners II LLC

Vista Investment Partners II LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,346 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $91.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.19 and a 200-day moving average of $88.44. The company has a market cap of $736.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G 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 one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.