Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,144 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Walmart were worth $10,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 20,111 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 5,023 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 8,176 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 3,453 shares during the period. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,491 shares of the retailer's stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. DZ Bank lowered Walmart from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.11.

Walmart Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE WMT traded down $0.68 on Friday, hitting $97.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,379,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,055,752. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.04 and a 52-week high of $99.00. The firm has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $92.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.90.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.44, for a total value of $2,663,098.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,814,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at $348,825,769.20. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 460,705 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. This trade represents a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.