Prentice Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,601 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Bell Bank boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 10,987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 2,433 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 8,523 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 5,348 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.77 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.43.

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.