Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 126,012 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,732 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 0.6% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 12.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after acquiring an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.08.

Walmart Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMT opened at $90.79 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.96. The firm has a market cap of $729.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total value of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 quarter, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock worth $12,311,491. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.