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) 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) 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.