Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 749,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,566 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $67,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank boosted its position in Walmart by 213.8% in the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $103.90 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.60 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.17. The stock has a market cap of $834.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.64, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Walmart from $93.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.87.

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.