Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 9,415 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 71.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,702 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,415 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.55 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.69. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.54 and a 52 week high of $98.17. The stock has a market cap of $783.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.