Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 22,989 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,550,517 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,989 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.8% of Fifth Third Bancorp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $230,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $761.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $92.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.21. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.47 and a 1 year high of $96.18.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. Walmart’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.69.

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.