Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,667 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,276 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Kepos Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.9 %

WMT stock opened at $58.84 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.34 and a 1-year high of $61.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.92. The company has a market capitalization of $474.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 43.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares in the company, valued at $236,187,943.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 14,685,327 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.61, for a total transaction of $860,755,966.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 656,397,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,473,631,458.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,016,140 shares of company stock worth $1,695,868,391 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Stifel Europe upped their price objective on Walmart from $56.33 to $58.33 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

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.