Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,500 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Walmart were worth $21,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $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 commented on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.56.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $832.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.82. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $103.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect 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.