Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 6,033 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,536 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,033 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149 over the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

WMT opened at $93.05 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.44 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18. 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 market cap of $747.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.31 and its 200 day moving average is $81.63.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.