Van ECK Associates Corp Has $22.65 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,696 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,216 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $22,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 579,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,352,180. The trade was a 2.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.17.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $104.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $835.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $94.83 and its 200 day moving average is $85.09. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.99 and a 12 month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Walmart 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.