Ruggaard & Associates LLC Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ruggaard & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,126 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 422,736,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,194,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,683 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 90,635,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,167,186,000 after buying an additional 3,017,829 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,737,355,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 48,793,045 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,408,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,201 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 42,015,818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,796,129,000 after acquiring an additional 514,036 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total value of $195,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 398,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,288,807.84. This trade represents a 0.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock valued at $16,785,080. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $99.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $83.09 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.59. The company has a market capitalization of $666.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The firm had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

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.