Michael S. Ryan Inc. Sells 131 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Michael S. Ryan Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,230 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.4% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in 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 during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.65. 13,246,686 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,929,060. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.76 and a 200-day moving average of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $52.58 and a one year high of $96.18. The firm has a market cap of $736.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Walmart from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.69.

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.