River Street Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

River Street Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,743 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.37.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $800.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.07 and a 200-day moving average of $83.27. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $99.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

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.