Kraft Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kraft Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,545 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 138.3% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 216.4% during the first quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 503 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.31. 12,324,148 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,134,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $654.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total transaction of $926,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,648,499. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total transaction of $926,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 632,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,648,499. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.96.

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.