Foster Group Inc. Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,023 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $792.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.79. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.04 and a 1 year high of $98.93.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.