Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Has $4.40 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Key Points

• Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. sold 3,885 shares of Walmart Inc., reducing its stake by 7.2%, resulting in ownership of 50,122 shares valued at approximately $4.4 million.
• Insider trading activity showed significant share sales by Walmart executives, including CEO C. Douglas McMillon and EVP Kathryn J. Mclay, indicating a 0.38% and 0.44% decrease in their respective ownership.
• Walmart reported a quarterly earnings beat with an EPS of $0.61 and declared a dividend of $0.235, reflecting a yield of 0.95% and a payout ratio of 40.17%.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,122 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,885 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,737,355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 9,896.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,939,728 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $697,029,000 after buying an additional 7,860,306 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 43,641,936 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,943,049,000 after buying an additional 3,550,037 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1,707.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 3,718,058 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $324,410,000 after buying an additional 3,512,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 9,765,159 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $882,282,000 after buying an additional 3,182,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, June 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $106.67.

Walmart Stock Up 0.9%

WMT stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,845,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,524,539. The company's fifty day moving average price is $96.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.81. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.67 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Walmart had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company had revenue of $165.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Walmart's payout ratio is 40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.14, for a total transaction of $1,248,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 932,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $88,700,258.82. The trade was a 1.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.44, for a total transaction of $216,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 628,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,851,623.92. This represents a 0.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 126,696 shares of company stock worth $12,222,245 in the last ninety days. 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.