Wendell David Associates Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wendell David Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,275 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 576 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Walmart by 112.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 49,863 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after purchasing an additional 26,379 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 856,755 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $58,011,000 after buying an additional 37,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,187,908 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $283,563,000 after buying an additional 203,626 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Walmart by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,465,762 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $99,247,000 after acquiring an additional 253,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $275,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,928 shares of company stock worth $8,978,123. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

WMT stock opened at $93.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $753.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.87. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.44 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Company 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.