Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC Purchases 2,264 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,091 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,264 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.2% of Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its holdings in Walmart by 213.8% in the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $541,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $97.22 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.60 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.25.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This is a positive change from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 over the last 90 days. 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.