LifeSteps Financial Inc. Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,523 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Tigress Financial boosted 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. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

Walmart Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $94.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.44. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.77 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.