Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,983 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,242 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 579,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,352,180. This trade represents a 2.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $94.84 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $92.02 and its 200-day moving average is $82.21. 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 1 year low of $53.47 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The company has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.