Wedmont Private Capital Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wedmont Private Capital trimmed its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,007.7% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Financial Services LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,350,158.55. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.66, for a total transaction 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 approximately $35,288,807.84. This trade represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,534 shares of company stock valued at $12,833,664 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Walmart from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.16.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $779.77 billion, a PE ratio of 40.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.90 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Walmart’s payout ratio is currently 40.17%.

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.