Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is QRG Capital Management Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,535,178 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,274 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 1.4% of QRG Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $138,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total value of $277,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 375,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,691,507.55. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $96.11 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.20 and a one year high of $105.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $95.70 and a 200 day moving average of $87.17. The company has a market capitalization of $772.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.