Trexquant Investment LP Buys 433,983 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 710.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 495,085 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 433,983 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for approximately 0.5% of Trexquant Investment LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $44,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $270,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $538,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 11.8% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 9,251 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,403,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.63, for a total value of $2,493,888.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,972,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $340,166,630.71. This represents a 0.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 888,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,652 shares of company stock valued at $16,590,028 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.17.

Walmart Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $87.94 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.56 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The company has a market capitalization of $704.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $94.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.83 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend 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.