LifeGoal Wealth Advisors Purchases New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

LifeGoal Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,955 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Up 4.4 %

WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.10. The company has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.18 and a 1-year high of $105.30. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.

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.