Hardy Reed LLC Purchases 2,436 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,657 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 216.4% in the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $733.97 billion, a PE ratio of 37.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $91.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.36.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. Guggenheim raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

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.