Leavell Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 195,222 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,913 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.8% of Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart by 290.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares during the period. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart during the first quarter worth approximately $723,000. Finally, Meridian Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 200.2% in the first quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 140,880 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,477,000 after purchasing an additional 93,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial upgraded Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Walmart in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.92.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $1.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $85.22. 4,287,895 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,731,234. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.67. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $85.54. The company has a market cap of $685.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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.