O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,049,715 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 118,803 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 0.8% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $94,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $270,000. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $538,000. Circle Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,820,606 shares of the retailer's stock worth $470,014,000 after buying an additional 2,018,271 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.17.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walmart
Walmart Trading Up 3.3 %
NYSE WMT traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $87.94. 30,255,294 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,963,820. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $94.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $704.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Walmart Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Walmart's payout ratio is 39.00%.
Walmart Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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