Optimum Investment Advisors Sells 1,590 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Optimum Investment Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,447 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,590 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 1.1% of Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $2,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in 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 period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total transaction of $1,261,968.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares in the company, valued at $44,293,612.80. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $85.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.