Spire Wealth Management Purchases 5,578 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,254 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,578 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 66,886 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,545,000 after purchasing an additional 8,161 shares in the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 6,898 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,030 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 104,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $59.87. 11,115,980 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,516,809. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.02. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.34 and a 12-month high of $61.65. The firm has a market cap of $482.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Europe upped their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Walmart 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.