Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI

Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 43,270 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares during the quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $97.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $781.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.60 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.25.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This is a positive change from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.