Northcape Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,968 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 201 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.5% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seven Mile Advisory increased its position in Walmart by 1.6% in the third quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 3,953 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 3.4% in the third quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,806 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.1% in the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Europe lifted their price target on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

Walmart Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $59.32. 14,196,731 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,705,756. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 671,082,588 shares in the company, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 5,970,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.27, for a total transaction of $347,895,646.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 671,082,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,106,219,344.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total value of $337,066,728.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,035,551. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.