Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,448 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. The trade was a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 in the last quarter. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of WMT opened at $91.33 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.44 and a 12-month high of $96.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $733.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

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.