Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,673 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank grew its stake in Walmart by 213.8% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in 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 bought a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $541,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.01.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $101.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $103.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $94.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $812.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.