Berry Wealth Group LP Takes $3.72 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 23,620 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,724,000. Walmart makes up about 3.4% of Berry Wealth Group LP’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,698,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317,729 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,361,411,000 after buying an additional 562,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,081,120,000 after buying an additional 78,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $59.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,383,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,552,398. The company has a market capitalization of $476.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,565,756.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, 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 value of $638,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551. 46.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Europe lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

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.