Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Buys 47,380 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 34.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 185,400 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,380 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $12,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% in the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 138.3% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cultivar Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

WMT opened at $79.06 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $635.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.44 and its 200 day moving average is $66.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

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.