Grassi Investment Management Trims Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Grassi Investment Management decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,722 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:WMT traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $91.47. The stock had a trading volume of 10,819,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,344,719. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.63. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The company has a market capitalization of $734.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. 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.