6,265 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Acquired by Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,265 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,194,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $4,408,452,000 after buying an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,334 shares of company stock worth $12,615,864. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.94.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.35. 8,582,010 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,825,482. The stock has a market capitalization of $786.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.26. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.16 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.