Stratos Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Stratos Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,884 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,915 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its position in Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its holdings in Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 18,263 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $102.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.82. 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 capitalization of $826.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $103.02.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.01.

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.