BTC Capital Management Inc. Sells 16,960 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

BTC Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,395 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16,960 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.9% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $20,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.11.

Walmart Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $787.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.19. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.04 and a 12-month high of $99.00.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.