Sage Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 3,801 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,801 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 19,299 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $367,000. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

WMT stock opened at $98.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.44. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.20 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average 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.