Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Asset Dedication LLC

Asset Dedication LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,664 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20,314 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.6% of Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 118,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 20,111 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after buying an additional 5,023 shares during the period. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 8,176 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 3,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.79. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.04 and a 52 week high of $98.93. The stock has a market cap of $792.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,207,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 579,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,352,180. This trade represents a 2.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

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.