Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,927 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,029 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $94.84 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.47 and a 12 month high of $96.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total transaction of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at $52,859,472.96. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688 in the last ninety days. 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.