Avalon Trust Co Invests $102,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 650 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,818,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $289,628,000 after acquiring an additional 220,165 shares in the last quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,880 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,170,000 after buying an additional 58,707 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $603,000. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Walmart by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 6,161 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last quarter. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.82. The stock had a trading volume of 14,207,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. The firm has a market cap of $482.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.34 and a twelve month high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.38%.

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.