Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is Covea Finance’s 6th Largest Position

Covea Finance trimmed its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 721,260 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 55,190 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 2.9% of Covea Finance’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Covea Finance’s holdings in Walmart were worth $65,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the third quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $91.39 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.44 and a 52 week high of $96.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.96. The company has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.