Wealth Alliance Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,335 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,433,000 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 position in Walmart during the third quarter worth $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $103.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $57.60 and a one year high of $105.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.17. The stock has a market cap of $834.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.