Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,650 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 491 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 347,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,736,000 after acquiring an additional 98,712 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,418 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 44,960 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,129,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,296,371. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.12. 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 one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The company has a market capitalization of $487.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.2075 dividend. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $63.33 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.95, for a total transaction of $337,066,728.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at $39,237,458,141.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,187,943.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 5,816,175 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 677,052,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,237,458,141.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,019,140 shares of company stock valued at $1,696,045,631 in the last three months. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

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.