Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Buckhead Capital Management LLC

Buckhead Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,575 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 10,934 shares during the quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,852,277,000 after acquiring an additional 426,388 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,873,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,698,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317,729 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,765,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,361,411,000 after acquiring an additional 562,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,081,120,000 after acquiring an additional 78,981 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Walmart stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $58.85. 15,337,520 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,665,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.83. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.34 and a fifty-two week high of $61.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $474.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $59.99 and its 200-day moving average is $55.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The business had revenue of $173.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

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.