Towercrest Capital Management Grows Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Towercrest Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 198.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,010 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,665 shares during the period. Towercrest Capital Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.09.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1 %

Walmart stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.75. The stock had a trading volume of 11,665,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,789,591. 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 stock has a market cap of $569.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $71.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.20.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS 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.