Gradient Investments LLC Has $10.08 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gradient Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) by 60.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,103 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 108,142 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Walmart by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 5,847 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Walmart by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $127,749,000 after buying an additional 13,985 shares during the period. 31.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

WMT opened at $139.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $375.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $117.27 and a 52 week high of $160.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The retailer reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.20. Walmart had a return on equity of 20.45% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $164.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 price target on Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Cowen boosted their price objective on Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Tigress Financial raised Walmart from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on Walmart from $150.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, December 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Walmart from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total transaction of $1,396,204.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,458,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,822,449.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $1,396,204.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,458,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,822,449.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 350,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.31, for a total value of $50,158,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 267,693,635 shares in the company, valued at $38,363,174,831.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,830,325 shares of company stock valued at $1,378,798,478. 47.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Company Profile

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Walmart, Inc engages in retail and wholesale business. The company offers an assortment of merchandise and services at everyday low prices. It operates through the following business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment operates as a merchandiser of consumer products, operating under the Walmart, Wal-Mart, and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands, as well as walmart.com and other eCommerce brands.