New England Research & Management Inc. Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,024 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 12,609 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. DZ Bank cut 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of 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 objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.11.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $97.97 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.04 and a twelve month high of $99.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $787.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $92.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.