Guidance Capital Inc. Acquires New Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 11,521 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $102.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.82. The firm has a market cap of $826.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $103.02.

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. 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 the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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.