Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 135,909 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,781 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised 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. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.53.

Walmart Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $104.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $835.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.44. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.99 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.