Sunbelt Securities Inc. Purchases 26,832 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 198.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,373 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,832 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 137,214,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,944,764,000 after acquiring an additional 751,713 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,087,268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,852,277,000 after purchasing an additional 426,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,011,647 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,081,120,000 after buying an additional 78,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $67.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $546.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.52. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $69.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $63.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,451,722 shares of company stock valued at $947,990,915 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.97.

About Walmart

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.