3,229 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Bought by Suncoast Equity Management

Suncoast Equity Management acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,229 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.22 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.60 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.25.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st 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 0.97%. This is an increase from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Walmart’s payout ratio is 34.06%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

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.