Beck Capital Management LLC Acquires 12,104 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,472 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,104 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 1.3% of Beck Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Beck Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $79.06 on Monday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $635.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $28,139,952.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083 in the last three months. 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.