13,902 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Acquired by Virtus ETF Advisers LLC

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,902 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,256,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James cut their target price on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $374,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,096,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,518,542.50. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,533 shares of company stock worth $13,241,740. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $95.02 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.58 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.76. The company has a market cap of $761.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Walmart 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.