Grimes & Company Inc. Grows Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,298 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Walmart by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $94.84 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.47 and a 52-week high of $96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.21.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS 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.