Guardian Investment Management Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Guardian Investment Management decreased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,995 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 3.7% of Guardian Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

WMT stock opened at $92.02 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $739.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.46. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

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.