Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases 5,402 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 118,144 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Walmart during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.62, for a total value of $2,697,464.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,766,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $348,852,396.42. The trade was a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $98.61 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.04 and a twelve month high of $98.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.71 and a 200-day moving average of $82.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $792.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

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.