Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC Acquires New Shares in Walmart Inc. $WMT

Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,420 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 319.7% in the 1st quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 432.4% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 362 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $101.3140 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.62. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.72 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $808.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 90.0%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 target price (up from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $112.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.89.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.24, for a total transaction of $380,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 1,060,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,997,734.20. The trade was a 0.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,851,623.92. The trade was a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,989 shares of company stock worth $10,976,478 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.