Flaharty Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Flaharty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 88.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,226 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,917 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 188,777 shares of company stock worth $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $98.65 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.44. The company has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.20 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Walmart 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.