MJP Associates Inc. ADV Has $1.89 Million Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,866 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. World Investment Advisors grew its position in Walmart by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,532,000 after purchasing an additional 19,233 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Walmart by 209.7% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 599,257 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,355,000 after buying an additional 9,292 shares during the period. Cushing Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $1,124,000. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $359,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.94.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of WMT opened at $96.78 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average of $90.66 and a 200 day moving average of $92.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $774.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.16, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.44 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.37, for a total transaction of $214,214.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,607,751.66. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,857 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,743 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.