Wulff Hansen & CO. Buys 310 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,531 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 1.1% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,072,000. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 209.7% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 599,257 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,355,000 after acquiring an additional 9,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iowa State Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.20.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $85.53 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $687.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.93. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $1,261,968.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,672 shares in the company, valued at $44,293,612.80. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.