Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,298 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,927 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,029 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,550,517 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $230,439,000 after buying an additional 22,989 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 22,381 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after buying an additional 2,801 shares during the period. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $941,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,859,472.96. The trade was a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,895,688 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.84 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.21. 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. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.47 and a 12-month 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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.