Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,806 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,445 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % 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 worth $13,849,185 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 1.6 %

Walmart stock opened at $96.11 on Thursday. 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 12 month low of $58.20 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.17. The stock has a market cap of $772.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.