Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,204 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,470 shares during the quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Steele Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 211.0% during the 1st quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,336 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,000 after acquiring an additional 5,656 shares in the last quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 200.0% in the first quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC now owns 7,128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 316.3% in the first quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC now owns 175,887 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,583,000 after purchasing an additional 133,639 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 208.7% in the first quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth approximately $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.47.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Walmart stock opened at $68.24 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.65. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $69.04. The company has a market cap of $548.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.