Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Makes New $223,000 Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,469 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Maripau Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 7,206 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Bank OZK grew its position in shares of Walmart by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank OZK now owns 29,873 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,699,000 after purchasing an additional 7,652 shares during the last quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 9,419 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade 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 hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $98.65 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.20 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $792.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

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.