Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 372,076 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.6% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Walmart were worth $33,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.18 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 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.