Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,538 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,993 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research 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 a consensus target price of $95.11.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $97.97 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.19. The company has a market capitalization of $787.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.04 and a 1-year high of $99.00. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS 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.