Breakwater Capital Group Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,008 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank boosted its stake in Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $541,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $90.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.44 and a 52-week high of $96.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $90.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $729.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.08.

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.