SYM FINANCIAL Corp Buys 3,498 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,516 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 0.3% of SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank grew its holdings in Walmart by 213.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $541,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total transaction of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.37.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $800.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.88, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $93.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.27. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $99.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

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.