Cottage Street Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cottage Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,699 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $43,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 3.2 %

WMT opened at $84.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $678.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.25. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.17.

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.