Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,064 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in 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 period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.6 %

Walmart stock opened at $101.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $812.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.52, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $103.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.