Smith Anglin Financial LLC Buys 430 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,216 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire grew its position in Walmart by 13.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its stake in Walmart by 213.8% during the 4th quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth approximately $541,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Melius Research began coverage on Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $91.39 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.44 and a 52-week high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.96.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.