Orser Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Orser Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,813 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 1.7% of Orser Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Orser Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.96. The firm has a market cap of $734.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.44 and a fifty-two week high of $96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

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.