Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,665 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 10,740 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after purchasing an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 8.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This trade represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE WMT opened at $100.01 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.64 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $800.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.50, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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