Hardy Reed LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 23.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,657 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,436 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.5% during the third quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC raised its position in Walmart by 2.1% in the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 2.1% during the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 1.4% during the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Carlson Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 7,499 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total value of $232,440.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Walmart Trading Up 2.0 %

WMT opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $733.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $91.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current 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.