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

Parthenon LLC cut its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,017 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 2.6% of Parthenon LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $21,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase 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 insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

WMT opened at $103.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $834.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.64, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.17. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.60 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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.