Aristotle Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,415 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,415 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $1,483,000. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 1,017,556 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $91,936,000 after buying an additional 105,170 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. AlTi Global Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 136,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allegheny Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Allegheny Financial Group now owns 5,006 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.58.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. The trade was a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 169,657 shares of company stock valued at $15,984,929 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $98.73 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.14 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $789.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.33.

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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

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.