Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 5,716 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 214,333 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,716 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 1.3% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Walmart were worth $19,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMT. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 119,625 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,901,459 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $196,458,000 after buying an additional 1,070,943 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Walmart by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 39,517 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,676,000 after buying an additional 9,347 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 856,406 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $57,987,000 after buying an additional 32,880 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth $217,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.08.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WMT traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.03. 18,134,872 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,832,559. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $90.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.39 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18. The firm has a market cap of $747.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current 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.