Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Acquires 82,565 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 224.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,281 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,565 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,737 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Walmart by 24.1% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 22,016 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after buying an additional 4,269 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.5% in the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 54,296 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,384,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 9.0% in the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 20,591 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.18 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.10.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.