Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 749,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 26,566 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $67,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $103.90 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.17. 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 firm has a market cap of $834.69 billion, a PE ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.