Advocate Group LLC Has $2.71 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Advocate Group LLC cut its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,983 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,242 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $94.84 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $761.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.47 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current 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.