Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Takes $2.13 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 23,529 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,126,000. Walmart comprises about 1.0% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,688,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $185,000. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,323,000. SWAN Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 137.8% in the fourth quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,405,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,148 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.58, for a total transaction of $2,815,113.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,451,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,896,799.42. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,583 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,404 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WMT opened at $96.49 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.16 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.33 and a 200 day moving average of $93.03. The firm has a market cap of $772.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

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.