Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 33.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,111 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,023 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 6.5% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 85,145 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 5,194 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,924,000. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 16,456 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,329,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.11.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.68 on Friday, reaching $97.97. The stock had a trading volume of 16,379,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,055,752. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.04 and a twelve month high of $99.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $787.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.91 and a 200 day moving average of $82.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total value of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 568,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. Insiders own 45.58% of the company's stock.

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.