Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Acquires 154,770 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 354.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 198,387 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 154,770 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $17,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Walmart Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $91.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.80. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.44 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55.

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, 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $2,689,601.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,347 shares of company stock worth $12,311,491 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.08.

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.