CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 558,365 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,955 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 1.2% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $50,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.5 %

WMT stock opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $800.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.27. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $99.79.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.37.

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.