Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $48.35 Million in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 535,143 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $48,350,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer's stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,026,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,836,495. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.14 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $90.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $789.93 billion, a PE ratio of 40.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart's payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total transaction of $2,823,571.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares in the company, valued at $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 348,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,657 shares of company stock valued at $15,984,929 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $103.58.

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.