M1 Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,762 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 69,542 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 98,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 21,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,884 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,760 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.82, for a total transaction of $166,883.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 520,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,332,475.50. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 177,583 shares of company stock valued at $16,701,404. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2%

WMT opened at $97.52 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $92.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $780.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.46, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.70. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.16 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.94.

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.