Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Sells 4,293 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,299 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire raised its position 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 worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank raised its position in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 4.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 0.7 %

WMT opened at $97.97 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $93.07 and its 200 day moving average is $83.19. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.04 and a fifty-two week high of $99.00.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart 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.