King Luther Capital Management Corp Purchases 15,946 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,239,003 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 15,946 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings in Walmart were worth $111,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $87.44. The company had a trading volume of 28,677,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,795,300. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $702.40 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.61.

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Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % 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 38,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently 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.