Allied Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Allied Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,002 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $106.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.87.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

WMT opened at $103.73 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.60 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.05. 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 company has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.