Wulff Hansen & CO. Acquires 310 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,531 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.1% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $85.53 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.56 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $687.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.56 and a 200-day moving average of $88.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. 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 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

About Walmart

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.