Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Blue Chip Partners LLC

Blue Chip Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,026 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the third 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

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 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $104.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.99 and its 200 day moving average is $85.56. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.99 and a 52-week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.53.

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.