Goldstein Advisors LLC Takes $229,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Goldstein Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,383 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LVZ Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 7,824 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in Walmart during the second quarter worth approximately $216,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 18,823 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,272,000. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth $96,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.64.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.64. 6,815,399 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,513,164. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $76.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $608.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,827,328 shares of company stock worth $584,261,549 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Company 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.