Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Purchases 106 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.7% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 2.0% in the 4th 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. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its position in Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th 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. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Hobart Private Capital LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 6,926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.63 and a 200-day moving average of $86.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.77 and a 12 month high of $105.30. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS 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 net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

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.