Hilltop Holdings Inc. Buys 16,683 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,487 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,683 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.6% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,963 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,761,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Arrowroot Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $248,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Beck Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 91,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,401,000 after purchasing an additional 22,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 670.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 735,430 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,393,000 after purchasing an additional 639,921 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock valued at $753,365,984. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $92.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $744.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.04. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $92.99.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

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.