Avanza Fonder AB Acquires New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 429,481 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $38,804,000. Walmart comprises about 1.2% of Avanza Fonder AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 77.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of several research reports. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.72 on Friday, reaching $92.02. 15,705,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,296,278. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.44 and a 1-year high of $96.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $739.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share 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.