DAVENPORT & Co LLC Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,358,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $122,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 4.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $800.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.27. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $99.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.