Violich Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Violich Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,625 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $102.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $822.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $103.11.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WMT. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.