RIA Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,822 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 253.0% during the first quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 526 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 216.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $84.25. 17,370,602 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,192,850. The stock has a market capitalization of $677.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $85.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.78.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.18.

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.