Greenwood Gearhart Inc. Buys 226,530 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 53.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 651,827 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 226,530 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 4.1% of Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $58,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Walmart stock opened at $93.97 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.09. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 177,022 shares of company stock valued at $16,618,422. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.