Aprio Wealth Management LLC Makes New $261,000 Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,842 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 112.0% during the third quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 212 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Lipe & Dalton acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 500.0% during the third quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 282 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 255,059 shares in the company, valued at $36,935,093.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,550,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.21, for a total value of $214,271,385.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 257,930,893 shares in the company, valued at $35,648,628,721.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.81, for a total value of $633,543.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 255,059 shares in the company, valued at $36,935,093.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,830,325 shares of company stock worth $1,378,798,478. Company insiders own 47.06% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

WMT opened at $139.40 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.27 and a 52 week high of $160.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.10. The firm has a market cap of $375.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $164.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.67 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 20.45% and a net margin of 1.91%. Walmart’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Cowen increased their target price on Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $159.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Walmart from $164.00 to $169.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.44.

About Walmart

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.