Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,807 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,534 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.9% of Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $103.73 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.60 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $833.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % 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 valued at $16,403,728 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

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.