Garde Capital Inc. Acquires 3,302 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 158.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,382 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,302 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whelan Financial grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 4,339 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,451,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. The trade was a 0.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total value of $166,883.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,332,475.50. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 177,583 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,404 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $104.94.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $1.18 on Tuesday, hitting $97.52. 17,168,296 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,858,663. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.54 and a 200 day moving average of $93.12. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.16 and a 12 month high of $105.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $780.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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

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.