Kanawha Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,688 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,394 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.9% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,800,743 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $142,973,000 after purchasing an additional 83,376 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,345,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,632,000 after purchasing an additional 18,644 shares in the last quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 10.2% in the third quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 15,028 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,599 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of WMT opened at $104.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $835.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 4.25 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. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.99 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.09.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.17.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by 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.