Meritas Wealth Management LLC Has $569,000 Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Meritas Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,052 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 0.4% of Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth $25,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WMT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.62.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total value of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,937. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $80.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $646.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.26 and its 200 day moving average is $68.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.