Poinciana Advisors Group LLC Invests $249,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Poinciana Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,759 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after acquiring an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 43.2% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 24,450 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 7,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balboa Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.4% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 8,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

Walmart stock opened at $85.29 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. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $685.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.62.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $1,261,968.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,293,612.80. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Company 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.