Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,179 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,059 shares during the quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,937 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 3,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 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 boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,685 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Strum & Towne Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.50, for a total transaction of $374,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,096,455 shares in the company, valued at $102,518,542.50. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.95, for a total value of $2,823,571.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,558,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,972,046.65. This trade represents a 0.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,533 shares of company stock worth $13,241,740 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Walmart from $112.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.58.

Walmart Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE WMT opened at $95.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.83. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.58 and a one year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $761.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.00%.

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.