Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,401 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,796,129,000 after acquiring an additional 514,036 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Walmart from $107.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $92.81 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $744.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.