Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes $413,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,576 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 486,512 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,956,000 after buying an additional 37,850 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $642,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Walmart by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,125,699 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $192,057,000 after buying an additional 602,255 shares during the period. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its position in Walmart by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 29,415 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,658,000 after buying an additional 12,496 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,454 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was 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 owns 566,794 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $85.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $687.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.89. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

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.