S.A. Mason LLC Buys 496 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,842 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Barclays raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.37.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $100.92 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $93.27 and a 200 day moving average of $83.48. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $100.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $810.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

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.