Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 372,076 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 0.6% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Walmart were worth $33,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $785.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.10. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.18 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.