Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Apella Capital LLC

Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,132 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Walmart stock opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.96. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays increased 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart 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.