Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $642,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,103 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $2,306,627,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,339,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,289,419,000 after purchasing an additional 6,860,189 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

WMT opened at $85.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $688.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.56 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.19 and a 200 day moving average of $88.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total transaction of $343,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 189,777 shares of company stock worth $18,001,116 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Erste Group Bank cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

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.