1832 Asset Management L.P. Acquires 1,831,854 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 141.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,126,001 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,831,854 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $211,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock opened at $79.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $73.44 and a 200-day moving average of $66.83. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued 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 during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total value of $166,607.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 459,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,113,904.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.