Victrix Investment Advisors Acquires New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 42,139 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,807,000. Walmart makes up approximately 2.7% of Victrix Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Walmart by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 271,515 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,532,000 after purchasing an additional 19,233 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Walmart by 209.7% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $79,960,000 after purchasing an additional 599,257 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,355,000 after purchasing an additional 9,292 shares during the period. Cushing Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $359,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,857 shares of company stock worth $12,444,743. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $98.26 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.87 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $786.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.77, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

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.