Apella Capital LLC Acquires 358 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,548 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after purchasing an additional 834,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,862,930.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,591,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,396,678. The company has a market capitalization of $650.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.16. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $81.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Walmart Company 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.