Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 67.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,970 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 664,756 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $28,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 over the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have commented on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.58.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Walmart
Walmart Price Performance
NYSE WMT traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.91. The company had a trading volume of 27,735,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,697,846. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.95. The company has a market capitalization of $760.88 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $178.83 billion. 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 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Walmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.
About Walmart
(
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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