Snider Financial Group Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Snider Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,681 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,217 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 1.7% of Snider Financial Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Snider Financial Group’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $871,000. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 167,788 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,160,000 after buying an additional 24,679 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 3,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 141,505 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mainstream Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 10,871 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $982,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $94.74 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.03. The company has a market capitalization of $761.04 billion, a PE ratio of 39.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid 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 currently 39.00%.

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.