First Hawaiian Bank Trims Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Hawaiian Bank cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,538 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 0.3% in the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the third quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $91.65. 13,246,686 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,929,060. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $736.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.58 and a 1 year high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm 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 firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.