Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,571 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Walmart Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of WMT opened at $97.39 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.51 and a 1-year high of $97.46. The company has a market capitalization of $782.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.69.

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.