GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Purchases New Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 142,656 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $12,889,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,979,000. Pacific Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $1,306,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,886 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,706,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank lowered Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $104.94.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 28,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 now owns 1,064,455 shares in the company, valued at $103,252,135. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,583 shares of company stock worth $16,701,404 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE WMT opened at $96.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $772.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.90. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.16 and a 52-week high of $105.30. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

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