ERn Financial LLC Sells 315 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

ERn Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,314 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during 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 last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.96. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.44 and a 52 week high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $734.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.