Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,987 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,799 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 349,637 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,591,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 173,702 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,694,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 27,346 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,471,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 159,986 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,455,000 after buying an additional 10,094 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in Walmart by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 10,895 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $92.02 on Monday. The firm 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. The firm has a market cap of $739.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

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.