Private Capital Management LLC Sells 888 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Private Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,512 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,020,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,927,173 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $96.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $778.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.20 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total transaction of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185. Insiders own 45.58% 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.