Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Sold by Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 25.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,314 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related 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 value of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $97.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.51 and a 1 year high of $97.84. The company has a market capitalization of $782.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.