Aspire Capital Advisors LLC Has $260,000 Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,880 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,852,396.42. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. DZ Bank cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $98.61 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.79. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $55.04 and a one year high of $98.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $792.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart 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.