Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 19,732 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 126,012 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,732 shares during the period. Walmart comprises approximately 0.6% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% in the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $90.79 on Wednesday. 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 $729.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.96.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp lifted their price target 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 lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.08.

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.