W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,778 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 1.0% of W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.17.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $104.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.99 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.83 and a 200 day moving average of $85.09.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

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

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.