Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 353 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walmart by 5.1% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,197,490 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $81,082,000 after buying an additional 58,542 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 80,261 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,434,000 after acquiring an additional 5,008 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 217,577 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24,615 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 159.3% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 595,653 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,000 after purchasing an additional 365,914 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock opened at $92.02 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.10. The company has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 4.41 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.49.

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.