Fernwood Investment Management LLC Has $578,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,156 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after acquiring an additional 484,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after purchasing an additional 834,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,334,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,577,287 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.24 on Friday, reaching $82.19. 12,181,833 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,532,335. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $660.66 billion, a PE ratio of 42.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.80 and its 200-day moving average is $71.17. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $83.34.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.89.

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.