BluePointe Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

BluePointe Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,106 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 18,337 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $413,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 486,512 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,956,000 after acquiring an additional 37,850 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $642,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 2,125,699 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $192,057,000 after acquiring an additional 602,255 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $86.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $693.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.56 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.92.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued 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 yield of 1.09%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart 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.