Acorn Creek Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,353 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its stake in Walmart by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 25,537 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 516,256 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $34,956,000 after purchasing an additional 26,258 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 2.8% in the second quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 19,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $829,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,708,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $97.55 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.54 and a 52 week high of $98.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $92.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $783.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its 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. The firm 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%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.