Sard Wealth Management Group LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sard Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South grew its stake in Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 25,647 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. LVZ Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 7,824 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 13,036 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,925,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,085,275. The firm has a market cap of $651.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $81.82. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.39.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total transaction of $926,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at $44,648,499. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.96.

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.