Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,330 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises about 1.9% of Cordatus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.22 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.60 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.62 and its 200 day moving average is $86.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This is an increase from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased 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. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.87.

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.