Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Sells 877 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,358 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 877 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.47, for a total transaction of $277,410.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 375,165 shares in the company, valued at $34,691,507.55. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,528 shares of company stock valued at $13,849,185 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

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

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

Walmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Walmart’s payout ratio is 39.00%.

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.