Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 11,546 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,116 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 11,546 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.5% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 14.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after buying an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $336,000. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.2% during the third quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,681 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 12,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $87.56 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.12 and a 200 day moving average of $89.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $701.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,777 shares of company stock valued at $18,001,116 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.17.

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.