Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $490,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,418 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. 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. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $97.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $92.50 and its 200-day moving average is $82.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $783.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.54 and a 1 year high of $98.17.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.