Candriam S.C.A. Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 209.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 885,008 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 599,257 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $79,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew 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 worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,293,612.80. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

WMT opened at $96.00 on Thursday. 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $96.15 and its 200 day moving average is $88.09. The stock has a market cap of $771.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.