Davidson Investment Advisors Sells 97,742 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Davidson Investment Advisors lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 552,797 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 97,742 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for approximately 2.4% of Davidson Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $49,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.87.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $103.73 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.05. The stock has a market cap of $833.31 billion, a PE ratio of 42.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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.