Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 346,010 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,620,743 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 346,010 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 0.8% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $236,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Quarterback LLC increased its position in Walmart by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 19,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 818,229 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $73,927,000 after buying an additional 68,520 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 151,036 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,646,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Walmart by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 36,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 5T Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,165,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.53.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $104.04 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.99 and a 12-month high of $105.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $166,658.10. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Walmart

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.