Versant Capital Management Inc Has $1.42 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 74.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,160 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,893 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1,007.7% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,166,630.71. The trade was a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction of $195,052.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at $35,288,807.84. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,334 shares of company stock worth $12,615,864 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.04 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.26. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.16 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a market cap of $776.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.94.

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.