Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,000 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Creative Planning grew its position in Walmart by 4.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,800,743 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $142,973,000 after acquiring an additional 83,376 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after acquiring an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 2.1% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 207,599 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,764,000 after buying an additional 23,722 shares during the period. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $1,053,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $104.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.99 and a 200 day moving average of $85.33. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.99 and a twelve month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.17.

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.