Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,773 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.0% of Essex Savings Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC now owns 36,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 8,852 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 14,540 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 11,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. The trade was a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $91.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $733.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.03. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company 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 company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS 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.