Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Trims Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC decreased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 51,692 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,604 shares during the quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 85,145 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth about $2,924,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 16,456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.04 and a 1-year high of $98.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.71 and a 200 day moving average of $82.79. The firm has a market cap of $792.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, 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 value of $1,207,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 579,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,352,180. The trade was a 2.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

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.