St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Reduces Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC cut its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,931 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,366 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 1.6% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $94.84 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $53.47 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $92.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.13. The stock has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart 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.