Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich Buys 270 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,790 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for approximately 1.2% of Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMT. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 2,879 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Hobart Private Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC now owns 6,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 22.3% during the 4th 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. Finally, Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Walmart from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.56.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $103.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $94.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.82. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.85 and a 12 month high of $103.90. The company has a market capitalization of $832.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total value of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 257,281 shares in the company, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728. 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.