Novare Capital Management LLC held its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock at the end of the first quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Wal-Mart Stores were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Asset Planning Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Wal-Mart Stores by 0.7% in the first quarter. Asset Planning Services Ltd. now owns 1,511 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 6,777.8% in the fourth quarter. Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC now owns 114,171 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 112,511 shares in the last quarter. High Point Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. High Point Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,960 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 7.2% in the first quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 2,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alexandria Capital LLC boosted its position in Wal-Mart Stores by 0.9% in the first quarter. Alexandria Capital LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.15% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) opened at 76.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $229.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.28. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.28 and a 1-year high of $80.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $76.83 and its 200 day moving average is $72.83.
Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The retailer reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. Wal-Mart Stores had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The company had revenue of $116.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will post $4.36 EPS for the current year.
A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Vetr cut Wal-Mart Stores from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $64.26 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday. Jefferies Group LLC set a $88.00 price objective on Wal-Mart Stores and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Wal-Mart Stores from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, BidaskClub cut Wal-Mart Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Wal-Mart Stores currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.11.
In related news, insider David Chojnowski sold 5,142 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.36, for a total transaction of $408,069.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 1,321,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.61, for a total transaction of $103,870,537.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,006,720 shares of company stock valued at $1,816,131,604 in the last quarter. 51.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Wal-Mart Stores
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc is engaged in the operation of retail, wholesale and other units in various formats around the world. The Company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club. The Walmart U.S. segment includes its mass merchant concept in the United States operating under the Walmart or Wal-Mart brands, as well as digital retail.
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