Elser Financial Planning Inc Invests $215,000 in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,385 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 77.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in Walmart in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 175,177 shares of company stock worth $16,403,728 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $102.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $825.62 billion, a PE ratio of 42.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.85 and a 52-week high of $103.11.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.95.

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.