Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,403 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,379 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.7% of Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.2% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 383,412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,961,000 after buying an additional 11,816 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Walmart by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,541,659 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $104,388,000 after acquiring an additional 249,232 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 35,845 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,427,000 after acquiring an additional 7,698 shares in the last quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC raised its position in Walmart by 1.6% during the second quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 20,745 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.6% during the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 22,052 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.79, for a total transaction of $2,411,175.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,843,929 shares in the company, valued at $318,238,881.91. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock valued at $12,478,149. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $92.02 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.85. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The company has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

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. 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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.