Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 12,550 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 90.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,432 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 12,550 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Walmart were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 87,617,409 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,048,465,000 after buying an additional 2,786,061 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total value of $1,215,375.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 140,177 shares of company stock worth $12,478,149 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of WMT traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.02. The company had a trading volume of 15,705,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,296,278. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.44 and a 52-week high of $96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $91.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.37. The firm 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.49.

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.