Hilltop Holdings Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 32.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,487 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,683 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,963 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,761,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares in the last quarter. Arrowroot Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter valued at about $248,000. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.7% during the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Beck Capital Management LLC now owns 91,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,401,000 after purchasing an additional 22,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 670.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 735,430 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $59,393,000 after purchasing an additional 639,921 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $92.63 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $92.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.35 and a 200 day moving average of $75.04. The stock has a market cap of $744.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock valued at $753,365,984. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

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.