Maxele Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Maxele Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,467 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $873,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during the 3rd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 322 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ WMT opened at $125.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.81 and a 12 month high of $134.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $123.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.27.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.44%. The company’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.2475 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 34.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $120.00 price target on Walmart in a report on Friday, February 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.76.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.79, for a total transaction of $2,555,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 486,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,203,571.56. This represents a 3.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Latriece Watkins sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $1,214,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 108,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,153,389.24. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 278,278 shares of company stock valued at $33,974,118 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.