Mitchell Capital Management Co. Has $7.27 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 80,499 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,942 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.3% of Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,726 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $98.65 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.58. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.20 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $792.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

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.