Longview Financial Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Longview Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,511 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake 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% 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. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Walmart from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Walmart from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $103.73 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.05. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.60 and a 12 month high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.31 billion, a PE ratio of 42.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.