Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Boosted by Apella Capital LLC

Apella Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,132 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.8% in the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 202,427 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,706,000 after purchasing an additional 9,275 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,002 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 3,719 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,214,990 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $149,977,000 after buying an additional 65,048 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Walmart by 8.7% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 292,966 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Walmart by 6.3% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 357,284 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,192,000 after acquiring an additional 21,234 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at $349,609,579.70. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares in the company, valued at $49,198,598.40. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WMT opened at $91.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $53.44 and a one year high of $96.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.49.

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.