Essex Savings Bank Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Essex Savings Bank raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,773 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.0% of Essex Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $91.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $733.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.48, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $90.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.03. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.44 and a 12-month high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total value of $1,088,850.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,785,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

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.