Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Trims Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 814,131 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 231,399 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 4.2% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Walmart were worth $73,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 13,461 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 2,706 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter worth about $263,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.5% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 40,993 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,812,000. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.5% during the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 43,836 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $97.39 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $54.51 and a 1 year high of $97.46. The company has a market cap of $782.38 billion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $92.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business 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 business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

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.