Renaissance Investment Group LLC Boosts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,873 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WMT. Barclays upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $92.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 4.41 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current 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.