Arkadios Wealth Advisors Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 203,522 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,336 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 1.0% of Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $18,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 211,257 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,304,000 after purchasing an additional 56,658 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 383,412 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,961,000 after buying an additional 11,816 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 15.9% during the second quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Walmart by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,541,659 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $104,388,000 after acquiring an additional 249,232 shares during the period. Finally, Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its stake in Walmart by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 25,795 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday. Two research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

Walmart Stock Up 0.8 %

WMT opened at $92.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.27. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.44 and a 52 week high of $96.18. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.