Vision Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vision Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,998 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its stake 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 holdings in Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 12,609 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 1.6 %

Walmart stock opened at $101.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.95. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.85 and a 1-year high of $103.11. The company has a market cap of $812.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 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 earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.01.

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.