Ring Mountain Capital LLC Invests $288,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,183 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $4,408,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.40 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $783.17 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $96.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.88.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

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.