Ballast Advisors LLC Buys 250 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ballast Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,746 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 in the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird raised 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, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Walmart Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $85.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.89. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $687.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 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.