Sterling Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,737 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 2.3% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 112.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 49,863 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 26,379 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 856,755 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $58,011,000 after acquiring an additional 37,585 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,187,908 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $283,563,000 after acquiring an additional 203,626 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,465,762 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $99,247,000 after acquiring an additional 253,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $275,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,928 shares of company stock valued at $8,978,123 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $93.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.62 and a 200-day moving average of $81.87. The firm has a market cap of $753.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.44 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.