Picton Mahoney Asset Management Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,060 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 17,007 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Kepos Capital LP acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 10,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.33, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 104,346 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.60. The company had a trading volume of 14,517,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,471,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $488.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day moving average of $56.12. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.38%.

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.