Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Decreases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,953 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,696 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up approximately 2.1% of Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC now owns 10,871 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. SWS Partners increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 24,604 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Ring Mountain Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,194 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 5,369 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 60,872 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,500,000 after purchasing an additional 3,569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,777 shares of company stock worth $17,657,316 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $783.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $96.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.88. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.40 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.83 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 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 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.07.

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.