Howard Financial Services LTD. Buys 2,288 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,895 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 90.4% during the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 26,432 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after acquiring an additional 12,550 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 152.4% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 39,432 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after purchasing an additional 23,809 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 203,522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,388,000 after purchasing an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Spring Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 87,986 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of Kansas grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co of Kansas now owns 4,734 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $92.02 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $96.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $91.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $739.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. TD Cowen upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.49.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total transaction of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. This represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.