Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 336,761 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 1.0% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $30,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 4,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 55,111 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,979,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Walmart by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 32,749 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 128,402 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,601,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Finally, ACT Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 140,412 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,116 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.08.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock traded down $1.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $91.46. 8,429,067 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,025,015. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.44 and a 52 week high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.