Board of the Pension Protection Fund Acquires Shares of 13,400 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 13,400 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,211,000. Walmart accounts for about 1.4% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126,012 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,385,000 after acquiring an additional 19,732 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Floyd Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,574,000. R.H. Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,159,000. Finally, Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,945,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.08.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMT opened at $90.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $729.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $90.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.96.

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