Sei Investments Co. Acquires 249,232 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,541,659 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 249,232 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $104,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Walmart by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Walmart by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $79.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $635.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.83. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.20, for a total transaction of $895,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 645,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,025,828. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock valued at $959,826,083. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Guggenheim upped 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.