M3 Advisory Group LLC Lowers Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

M3 Advisory Group LLC decreased its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. M3 Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.69.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE WMT opened at $97.39 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.29. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.51 and a 52 week high of $97.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $782.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.