Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 689.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,736 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 4,136 shares during the period. Balefire LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,946 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 2,663 shares during the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,085,000. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 6.8% in the first quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 4,783 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 5.8% in the first quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 9,021 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 4.8% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 72,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,336,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.
Walmart Price Performance
WMT stock opened at $96.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $767.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.12, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.22. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.67 and a 52-week high of $105.30.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Walmart Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 40.17%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 398,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,288,807.84. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.19, for a total transaction of $2,743,189.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,480,347 shares in the company, valued at $422,003,883.93. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 123,295 shares of company stock worth $11,801,762 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two investment analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.50.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WMT
Walmart Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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