Physicians Financial Services Inc. Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 161,628 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 4.6% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $14,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 98.2% in the 1st quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. now owns 337 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Lipe & Dalton lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 410 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $97.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $778.65 billion, a PE ratio of 41.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 2.75%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total value of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.85, for a total transaction of $1,258,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 945,434 shares in the company, valued at $90,619,848.90. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,112 shares of company stock worth $14,078,027 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

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.