West Oak Capital LLC Has $178,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

West Oak Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,970 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE WMT traded up $1.23 on Friday, hitting $93.03. 18,134,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,832,559. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.39 and a 12 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. The company has a market cap of $747.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.16 and a 200-day moving average of $80.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,485,124.40. 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 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.