Providence Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 122 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,549 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for about 2.6% of Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $47,400,000 after purchasing an additional 105,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $91.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $738.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.71, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $92.25.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 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.