Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 82,925 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,840 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. DZ Bank lowered 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $102.47 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $102.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $823.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.05, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.69.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share 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.