Park Avenue Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 199,841 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 23,008 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $18,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.96. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock worth $12,311,491. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

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.