Hoey Investments Inc. Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,570 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,741 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 1.0% of Hoey Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $94.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $751.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.06. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.30 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.50.

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.