Meridian Financial Partners LLC Buys 331 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,214 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 248.9% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 31,457 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,893,000 after buying an additional 22,441 shares in the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 207.4% in the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 282,369 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,990,000 after purchasing an additional 190,500 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 182.5% in the first quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 96,981 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,835,000 after purchasing an additional 62,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC grew its position in Walmart by 198.9% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 28,386 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after purchasing an additional 18,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $81.32 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $654.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WMT. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Walmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.