GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,736 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,592 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Colorado Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $219,000. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,551,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.01.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 1.6 %

WMT opened at $101.17 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.85 and a twelve month high of $103.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $812.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 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.