Strategic Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,586 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 691 shares during the quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 192.1% during the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth $270,000. Commerce Bank boosted its position in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 290.7% during the first 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. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,740,000 after purchasing an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $79.74. 3,993,922 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,288,078. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.60. The stock has a market cap of $641.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 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 has a 50 day moving average of $76.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.61.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.96.

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.