Safeguard Financial LLC Buys 1,700 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Safeguard Financial LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 39.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,976 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Professional Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 25,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. LVZ Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.9% during the second quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 7,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC grew its position in Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at $30,862,930.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,335,272 shares of company stock worth $958,101,276 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

WMT opened at $81.70 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.23. The company has a market cap of $656.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $81.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.96.

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.