135,863 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Bought by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 135,863 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $21,497,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 83,586 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,177,000 after buying an additional 20,705 shares in the last quarter. Power Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $638,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,227,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price target 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. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $59.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,207,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,769,110. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $482.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average is $55.99. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.