Steele Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,680 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.43. The company had a trading volume of 3,305,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,570,313. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $478.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total value of $167,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 530,613 shares in the company, valued at $29,565,756.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.72, for a total transaction of $167,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 530,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,565,756.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,035,551 in the last quarter. Insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

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.