Teza Capital Management LLC Takes $2.97 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 32,863 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,969,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,857 shares of company stock valued at $12,444,743. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $98.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $786.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.77, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.48. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $63.87 and a one year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

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.