Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $4.05 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. decreased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,683 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,183 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 0.9% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Kepos Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Stifel Europe boosted their target price on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Walmart to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.75.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.65. The stock had a trading volume of 8,966,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,548,449. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.34 and a 1 year high of $61.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.92. The stock has a market cap of $480.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.2075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total value of $1,687,250.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,016,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,695,868,391 in the last 90 days. 46.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.