Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,007 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,134 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.2% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,673 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $874,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 137.9% in the fourth quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 13,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 8,061 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 55,581 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,022,000 after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Hobart Private Capital LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 6,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group grew its holdings in Walmart by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 9,044 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.95.

Walmart Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE WMT opened at $102.77 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $103.11. The company has a market capitalization of $825.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.