Longbow Finance SA Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Longbow Finance SA grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 83.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,410 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 108,588 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 2.4% of Longbow Finance SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Longbow Finance SA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $21,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Down 1.2 %

WMT stock opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.18 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.89. The firm has a market cap of $752.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company 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.