Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Purchases 624 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,346 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.8% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 129,357 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,356,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,060 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,902 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 515,890 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $45,290,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Napatree Capital LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 16,932 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $95.11 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $759.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.67 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.77, for a total value of $166,795.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 650,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,693,090.29. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,951 shares of company stock worth $13,543,436 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.