A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 750 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 119,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,100,000 after purchasing an additional 3,556 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 58.5% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,901,459 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $196,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,943 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 39,517 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 9,347 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 856,406 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $57,987,000 after purchasing an additional 32,880 shares during the period. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $92.71. 6,716,752 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,841,860. The firm has a market capitalization of $744.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.39 and a 52 week high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.08.

About Walmart

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.