Meredith Wealth Planning Purchases Shares of 2,628 Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Meredith Wealth Planning acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,628 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $104.04 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.99 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.99 and its 200 day moving average is $85.56. 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 $835.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.53.

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.