Meritas Wealth Management LLC Sells 300 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Meritas Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,752 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.4% of Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd 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. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WMT opened at $93.05 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $91.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $747.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.19, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp increased 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were 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 owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149 over the last ninety days. Company 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.