HTLF Bank Has $9.18 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

HTLF Bank lessened its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,567 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,032 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 1.0% of HTLF Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock valued at $16,403,728. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.95.

Walmart Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $102.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $825.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.36. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.85 and a 1 year high of $103.11. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

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.