Marietta Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,967 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,169 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 2.0% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $13,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after buying an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.11.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.97 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.19. 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 1-year low of $55.04 and a 1-year high of $99.00. The firm has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS 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.