Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,525 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $87.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $702.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 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.