Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 86.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 278,315 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,720,818 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $25,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.99 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm has a market cap of $835.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.09. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company 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 company posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.