Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Sells 4,293 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,299 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Walmart by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 51,859 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,685,000 after purchasing an additional 12,559 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,473,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Blossom Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Blossom Wealth Management now owns 7,199 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,538 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,000 after buying an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Finally, Hofer & Associates. Inc raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 8,976 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents 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, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $97.97 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.04 and a 52 week high of $99.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55.

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

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.