Stonebridge Financial Group LLC Takes $6.35 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 70,292 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,351,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bonfire Financial purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 39,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,599,000 after acquiring an additional 4,540 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 1,466 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 410,077 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,135,000 after acquiring an additional 8,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 7,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.08.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5 %

WMT stock opened at $102.45 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $55.85 and a one year high of $103.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.27 and a 200-day moving average of $84.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $822.98 billion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Walmart 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.