Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 27,446 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,446 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,480,000. Walmart accounts for about 1.5% of Kentucky Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 91,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,299,000 after buying an additional 6,857 shares during the period. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,131 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 61,904 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,593,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Certuity LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 25,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its holdings in Walmart by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 18,600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.56.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $832.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $103.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $94.45 and a 200 day moving average of $84.82.

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, 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.