Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,612 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 630 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. New Republic Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 8,128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 48,096 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,354,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $592,000. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $1,536,000. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 35,147 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

WMT stock opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $832.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 4.25 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. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $103.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the 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 $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.