Kera Capital Partners Inc. Buys 395 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,679 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth 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 valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.94.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,334 shares of company stock valued at $12,615,864 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.04 on Friday. 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 market cap of $776.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.16 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.26.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

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.