Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $21.22 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Advisors Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 234,807 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,860 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $21,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $541,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in Walmart by 4.2% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $731,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 22,250 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $504,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $92.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $58.56 and a one year high of $105.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.88. The company has a market cap of $744.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 1.01%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Kathryn J. Mclay sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.95, for a total value of $343,800.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,852 shares of company stock worth $16,785,080 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Walmart from $93.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Walmart from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Walmart from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.58.

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.