Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,849 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,857 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $103.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $832.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.45 and its 200-day moving average is $84.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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.