Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases 11,940 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 257,321 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,940 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 17.6% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,403 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 29,274 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,158 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 56,787 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 3,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE WMT opened at $96.11 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.70 and its 200-day moving average is $87.17. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $772.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.20 and a one year high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.