AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Invests $906,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 10,027 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 147,528 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,140 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $85.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $686.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.