SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 228.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,201 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 21,007 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.46 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.90 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $779.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.00, for a total transaction of $217,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 630,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,421,282. This trade represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total value of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, May 5th. DZ Bank raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.16.

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.