Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Has $1.39 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 58.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,811 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,257 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 461.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 10,922 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 8,976 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 943,509 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $150,896,000 after purchasing an additional 17,720 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 22,169 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 917.9% in the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 16,002 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $59.32 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.90. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at $29,565,756.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

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.