Wealth Alliance Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Alliance raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,335 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.1 %

WMT opened at $103.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $834.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.