First Financial Group Corp Purchases Shares of 3,192 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Financial Group Corp acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,192 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.20.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $85.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $685.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.56 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.62.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.