Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. Has $2.37 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 28,776 shares during the quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $792.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.04 and a twelve month high of $98.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents 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 have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by 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.