Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 873,049 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,271 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $78,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the third quarter worth $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 0.0 %

Walmart stock opened at $91.33 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.44 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $733.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.03.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

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.