Voleon Capital Management LP Takes $11.22 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 124,188 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $11,220,000. Walmart accounts for 0.8% of Voleon Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its position in Walmart by 1,007.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total transaction of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $340,166,630.71. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 169,657 shares of company stock valued at $15,984,929 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.58.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

WMT stock opened at $96.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $768.25 billion, a PE ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.58 and a one year high of $105.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.05. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

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

Walmart Company 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.