Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 40,699 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 352,750 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,699 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Walmart were worth $31,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $91.68 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $736.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.19 and a 200 day moving average of $88.44.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

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.