Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,179 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 12,059 shares during the period. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $6,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.2% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer's stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 10.9% in the third quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $504,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho started coverage on Walmart in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Trading Up 0.3 %

WMT stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $97.52. 5,986,632 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,805,423. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.58 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $780.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors 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 0.96%. 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, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 423,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % 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 worth $15,984,929 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

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.