University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Acquires 21,478 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,054 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,478 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 1.5% of University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the first quarter worth $270,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $81.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.85. The stock has a market cap of $653.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. 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 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,334,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,025,027. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

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.