Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $262.98 Million Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,910,626 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 593,874 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $262,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 11,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. First International Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Walmart by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 13,681 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 24,260 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 4,806 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 127,329 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares during the period. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 23,611 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.08.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of WMT traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.95. 6,082,747 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,731,652. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $746.70 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.39 and a 52 week high of $96.18.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.