Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,194 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,369 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $94.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $761.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.31, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.03. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.