Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Buys 8,061 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 137.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,905 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,061 shares during the quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 55,581 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,022,000 after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 6,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 9,044 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $817,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 138,770 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,538,000 after acquiring an additional 10,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 17,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $101.17 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.26. 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 capitalization of $812.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.52, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.85 and a 52 week high of $103.11.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. DZ Bank downgraded 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.01.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Company 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.