First Community Trust NA Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Community Trust NA boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,428 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 1.5% of First Community Trust NA’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. First Community Trust NA’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 48,767 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,406,000 after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 199,841 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,056,000 after acquiring an additional 23,008 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 54,655 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,938,000 after acquiring an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $1,211,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126,012 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,385,000 after purchasing an additional 19,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $91.39 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. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $90.70 and a 200-day moving average of $80.96. The company has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock worth $12,311,491. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.