Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 121 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $92,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 0.5% during the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 32,633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE WMT traded up $1.23 on Friday, reaching $93.03. The company had a trading volume of 17,873,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,161,235. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.39 and a 52 week high of $96.18. The stock has a market cap of $747.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $90.16 and its 200-day moving average is $80.29.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.