Compass Capital Corp MA ADV Takes $1.93 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 20,909 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.87.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $97.22 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.60 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $781.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.25.

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

Walmart Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. This is a positive change from Walmart’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Walmart Company 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.