Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Position Trimmed by HCR Wealth Advisors

HCR Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,797 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $3,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $734.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp increased 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.