GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. Acquires Shares of 2,500 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,500 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after acquiring an additional 3,017,829 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,796,129,000 after acquiring an additional 514,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $93.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.09.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,022 shares of company stock valued at $16,618,422 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.58.

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.