Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 170,132 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,093,169 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 170,132 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $99,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Walmart by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in Walmart by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 12,609 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,018 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz acquired 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, for a total transaction of $499,997.26. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This trade represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.01.

Walmart Trading Up 0.4 %

Walmart stock opened at $102.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.85 and a fifty-two week high of $103.02. The stock has a market cap of $826.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.21, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $93.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.