Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Reduces Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,100 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,409 shares during the quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its position in Walmart by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 127,329 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 23,611 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,133,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $1,240,000. Private Client Services LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Client Services LLC now owns 7,909 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 26,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,392,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Melius Research initiated coverage on Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.95.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $91.65 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.58 and a twelve month high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $736.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 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 company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company 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.