98,000 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Bought by Woodson Capital Management LP

Woodson Capital Management LP bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 98,000 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,450,000. Walmart comprises about 3.2% of Woodson Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $22,199,000. Scholtz & Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $331,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $444,000. Finally, Security National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $143,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.51, for a total value of $781,068.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,547 shares in the company, valued at $13,065,241.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,221,033 shares of company stock worth $518,194,888 over the last three months. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.01.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,795,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,962,526. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.85. The firm has a market cap of $526.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $65.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is 35.47%.

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.