Stevens Capital Management LP Has $1.62 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,894 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,745 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th 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 period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $85.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.19 and a 200 day moving average of $89.04. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.