Kowal Investment Group LLC Acquires 976 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,052 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after buying an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 290.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $79.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $635.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.44 and its 200 day moving average is $66.83. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.02.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.