Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC Raises Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,092 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,064 shares during the quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 13,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 9,262 shares in the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 237.3% in the 1st quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 42,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 29,918 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 6,847 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 4,565 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 319.9% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 24,596 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 18,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Business Bank raised its stake in Walmart by 198.7% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Business Bank now owns 59,324 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 39,464 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

Walmart Trading Up 0.9 %

WMT stock opened at $68.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $547.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.22 and its 200 day moving average is $59.53. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $69.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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.