Beacon Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Beacon Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,591 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.6% of Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Beacon Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after acquiring an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 10.9% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 178,782 shares of company stock worth $16,785,305. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $93.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.52 and a 200 day moving average of $90.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $746.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.56 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors 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 yield of 1.01%. Walmart’s dividend 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.