Sutton Place Investors LLC Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sutton Place Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,912 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. Sutton Place Investors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 884,820 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $71,449,000 after purchasing an additional 70,808 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Walmart by 32.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 71,684 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,788,000 after buying an additional 17,593 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $336,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 129,449 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,453,000 after purchasing an additional 5,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.3% during the third quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 20,373 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $99.79. 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 capitalization of $800.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.27.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.37.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. 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.