Sovran Advisors LLC Invests $1.54 Million in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,914 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,536,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % 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 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

Walmart Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $102.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $103.11. The company has a market cap of $822.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.59.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share 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.