Hickory Point Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,756 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.3% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 35,216 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,844,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.0% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 6,987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 29.6% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 18,499 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 4,221 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 165,950 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,400,000 after purchasing an additional 13,170 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 188,777 shares of company stock worth $17,934,726. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $792.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.20 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.