Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $5.21 Million Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,688 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,394 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.0 %

Walmart stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.99 and a 1-year high of $105.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.09. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective 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. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.17.

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.