Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Position Increased by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,241 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted 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. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $87.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $700.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $88.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.51.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Corporate 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.