Goldstone Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,377 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.1% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,197,490 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $81,082,000 after purchasing an additional 58,542 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 80,261 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,434,000 after buying an additional 5,008 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 217,577 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,732,000 after buying an additional 24,615 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the second quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 159.3% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 595,653 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,000 after acquiring an additional 365,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $92.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.44 and a 52 week high of $96.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $91.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.10.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.