Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Acquires New Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,478 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third 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. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of WMT opened at $99.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $800.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.88, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. 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 $55.85 and a 1-year high of $99.79.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.