Shilanski & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,404 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart 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 directly 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 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,895,688 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $94.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $761.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $92.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.13. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.47 and a 52 week high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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.