Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,929 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

WMT stock opened at $98.61 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.04 and a 52 week high of $98.93. 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 company has a market cap of $792.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $92.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 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.