Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,628 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 22,456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,832 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 4,178 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 19,960 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $361,000. Finally, Verum Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 6,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,928 shares of company stock valued at $8,978,123. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.69.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $93.26 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.44 and a 52-week high of $96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.79. The company has a market capitalization of $749.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly 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 for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.