Finley Financial LLC Invests $56,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Finley Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 609 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE WMT opened at $93.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $753.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.87. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,928 shares of company stock worth $8,978,123. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.