Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 1,792 Shares of Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT)

25 May 2020, 01:01 by Michael Walen

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its position in shares of Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,014 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,792 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,997,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $831,543,000 after buying an additional 1,725,977 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,926,837 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,060,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,100 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $186,636,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Walmart by 21.5% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,261,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $711,438,000 after buying an additional 1,107,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,593,989 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $308,261,000 after buying an additional 1,046,394 shares during the period. 30.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Nomura Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $131.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Walmart from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Walmart in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $117.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $132.03.

In other Walmart news, EVP Marc E. Lore sold 85,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.05, for a total transaction of $10,459,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,272,996 shares in the company, valued at approximately $279,692,157.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.50, for a total value of $5,825,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 321,205 shares of company stock worth $39,041,990 in the last 90 days. 51.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $124.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $125.02 and its 200 day moving average is $118.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc has a 1 year low of $100.60 and a 1 year high of $133.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The retailer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $134.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.91 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 2.81%. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the retail and wholesale operations in various formats 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, discount stores, drugstores, and convenience stores; membership-only warehouse clubs; e-commerce Websites, such as walmart.com, jet.com, shoes.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.