Portfolio Design Labs LLC Buys 2,592 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 85.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,641 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,592 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after buying an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during 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 buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.56.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $103.62 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 $55.85 and a 1 year high of $103.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.82. The company has a market cap of $832.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.