Financial & Tax Architects LLC Sells 10,440 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,059 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 10,440 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 1.9% of Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $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% during 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 holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

WMT opened at $92.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.27. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.44 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18. The company has a market cap of $739.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.