Flavin Financial Services Inc. Purchases New Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Flavin Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 39,174 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,539,000. Walmart makes up about 3.4% of Flavin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 3.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,501,782 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,392,658,000 after buying an additional 1,480,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.01.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $102.47 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.69. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.85 and a 12-month high of $102.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $823.21 billion, a PE ratio of 42.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 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, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS 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.