Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 88.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,661 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,186 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 687,919 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $62,144,000 after acquiring an additional 48,088 shares during the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. raised its holdings in Walmart by 6,536.0% during the 4th quarter. Essential Planning LLC. now owns 574,746 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,823,000 after buying an additional 566,085 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Walmart by 28,039.7% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,201,845 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $108,587,000 after buying an additional 1,197,574 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 7,946 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $87.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.07 and a 200-day moving average of $88.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $702.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.28, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Walmart Company 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.