Sienna Gestion Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sienna Gestion lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 864.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,555 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,749 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $84.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $677.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.56. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.