Midland Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Midland Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,216 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,520 shares during the period. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Main Street Research LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 15,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Walmart by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,000,387 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $180,735,000 after acquiring an additional 99,537 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 133,746 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Taika Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $742,000. Finally, Saybrook Capital NC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $260,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $91.68 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.56 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $736.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.53.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,261,968.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,293,612.80. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 185,777 shares of company stock valued at $17,657,316. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DZ Bank upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

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.