Lantz Financial LLC Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,958 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 126,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the first quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.3% in the first quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.2% in the first quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $503,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.0 %

WMT traded down $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $163.35. The company had a trading volume of 383,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,931,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $128.07 and a 52-week high of $165.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The business had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,149,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.97, for a total transaction of $330,923,871.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 235,440,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,250,844,765.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,149,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.97, for a total transaction of $330,923,871.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 235,440,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,250,844,765.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,527,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.31, for a total transaction of $237,271,590.99. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 237,590,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,900,139,553.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,802,298. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Walmart in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Walmart from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on Walmart from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Walmart from $159.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.51.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.