Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC Takes $273,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,019 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 12.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,098,203,000 after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% in the third 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 grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,412 shares of company stock worth $12,478,116 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock traded down $1.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $91.54. The company had a trading volume of 10,201,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,255,322. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The company has a market capitalization of $735.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.63.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DZ Bank downgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.08.

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.