Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Decreases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 466,347 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 121,496 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $42,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This trade represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7 %

WMT stock traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $97.97. The company had a trading volume of 16,379,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,055,752. 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 52 week low of $55.04 and a 52 week high of $99.00. The stock has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $92.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.