Westover Capital Advisors LLC Buys 2,692 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,461 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 21.7% during the third quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.8% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 52,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,342,000 after buying an additional 2,845 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $4,106,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.3% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 102,963 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,467,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,184 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016,140 shares of company stock worth $1,695,868,391 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Stifel Europe boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT traded up $0.88 on Thursday, hitting $59.73. 11,263,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,576,322. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.34 and a 52 week high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $481.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.01 and its 200 day moving average is $55.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

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.