Avestar Capital LLC Has $2.37 Million Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,372 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 21.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after purchasing an additional 105,430 shares during the period. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 201.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $89.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $719.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.71, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $90.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.14.

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

About Walmart

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.