Sanders Morris Harris LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,607 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.45, for a total transaction of $1,760,545.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,047,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,687,515.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $798,131.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 645,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,253,888.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.45, for a total transaction of $1,760,545.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,047,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,687,515.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock valued at $950,549,592. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMT. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.91. The company had a trading volume of 25,891,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,038,200. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.75. The stock has a market cap of $546.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $68.55.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

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.