Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 74,494 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 462,051 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,494 shares during the period. Walmart makes up approximately 0.6% of Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $30,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Walmart by 187.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Down 2.4 %

WMT opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.02. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.48. The company has a market cap of $631.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,537,610,048.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,537,610,048.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.