Weaver Capital Management LLC Sells 577 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Weaver Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 46,775 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.2% of Weaver Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 12,609 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart 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 approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $102.86 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $103.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.82. The company has a market cap of $826.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.