Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 268,247 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,190 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 0.8% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $24,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 91,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,299,000 after acquiring an additional 6,857 shares during the period. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Perissos Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,131 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 61,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,593,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Certuity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 25,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 18,600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.82. The company has a market cap of $832.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $103.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.56.

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.