Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $242,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,676 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $85.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $95.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for 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%. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 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.