Bridges Investment Management Inc. Acquires 9,162 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 92,389 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,162 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in 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 during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position 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 worth $564,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 165,950 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,400,000 after buying an additional 13,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,777 shares of company stock worth $17,934,726 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

WMT opened at $98.65 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day moving average of $87.58. The company has a market capitalization 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 fifty-two week low of $58.20 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.