Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,721 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,868 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,207,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 579,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,352,180. This trade represents a 2.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $101.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $812.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.26. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $103.11.

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. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Walmart 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.