Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 17,007 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,060 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 17,007 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Hyman Charles D raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 23,280 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,670,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $953,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 58.3% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Europe increased their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total value of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total value of $860,755,966.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.60. The stock had a trading volume of 14,517,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,471,379. The company has a market cap of $488.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day moving average of $56.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

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.