Vestor Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,719 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 32,737 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 411,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,170,000 after buying an additional 129,742 shares during the period. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 7,604 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 729.2% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 55,537 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 48,839 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Walmart by 778.2% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 29,359 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 26,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

WMT stock opened at $85.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. 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 one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current 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 dividend yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.