Traction Financial Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Traction Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,535 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Traction Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $103.73 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $833.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.05. 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 data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current 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.