Kennedy Investment Group Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kennedy Investment Group raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,745 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Walmart were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $55.04 and a one year high of $98.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $792.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

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.