BluePath Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,580 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

BluePath Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,540 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Walmart comprises 0.7% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted 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 during the period. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 0.7 %

Walmart stock opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.44 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.96. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last announced 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $318,238,881.91. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock worth $12,311,491 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.