Grandview Asset Management LLC Makes New $2.35 Million Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Grandview Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 25,974 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,347,000. Walmart accounts for 0.9% of Grandview Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank grew its position in shares of Walmart by 213.8% in the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 18,263 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.08.

Walmart Trading Down 1.7 %

WMT opened at $91.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.44 and a 12-month high of $96.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,347 shares of company stock valued at $12,311,491 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.