Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,527 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kepos Capital LP purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $60.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,889,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,386,242. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.12. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $485.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total transaction of $117,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.94.

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.