Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 3,026 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,425 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,868,000 after acquiring an additional 21,939 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 36,945 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 47,038 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.85 on Friday, hitting $97.45. The stock had a trading volume of 12,845,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,524,539. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $66.67 and a one year high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $777.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $96.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $2,716,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,064,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,252,135. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 126,696 shares of company stock worth $12,222,245 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $106.67.

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.