Rench Wealth Management Inc. Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Rench Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,292 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,532,000 after purchasing an additional 19,233 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 209.7% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after acquiring an additional 599,257 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,355,000 after buying an additional 9,292 shares during the period. Finally, Iowa State Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 18,263 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

Walmart stock opened at $94.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.06. The company has a market capitalization of $760.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.