Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Has $481,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,328 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd 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. Finally, 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 worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of WMT opened at $105.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $844.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.13, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $55.85 and a one year high of $105.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.95. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.85.

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.