Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Centric Wealth Management

Centric Wealth Management lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 48.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,380 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the quarter. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 78,345 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,351,000 after purchasing an additional 15,448 shares during the period. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. grew its position in Walmart by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 252,600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,398,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 32.5% in the third quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,117,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $338,602,000 after purchasing an additional 518,896 shares during the period. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 48,468 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,751,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.94.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.33. The stock had a trading volume of 7,487,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,342,713. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.34 and a 52-week high of $61.65. The company has a market cap of $486.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.38%.

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.