Professional Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.10 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,003 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 126,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 7.3% during the first quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.2% in the first quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $503,000. Institutional investors own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 473,370 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.75, for a total transaction of $73,727,377.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 241,479,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,610,376,989.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 473,370 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.75, for a total value of $73,727,377.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 241,479,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,610,376,989.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $161,370.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock worth $1,005,802,298. 46.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $163.42 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.07 and a 1 year high of $165.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $439.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $159.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.70.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The firm had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. TD Cowen restated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on Walmart in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $176.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.51.

Walmart Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.