M1 Capital Management LLC Invests $701,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 7,762 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550,037 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,293,612.80. This represents a 2.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 177,583 shares of company stock worth $16,701,404 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:WMT opened at $97.52 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.16 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $92.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $780.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 40.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DZ Bank raised 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.94.

Walmart 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.