Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Purchases 11,210 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,096 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after acquiring an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $102.45 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $103.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.27 and a 200 day moving average of $84.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $822.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.08.

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.