Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Delta Global Management LP

Delta Global Management LP boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1,052.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,347,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,230,681 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 6.2% of Delta Global Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Delta Global Management LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $81,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after acquiring an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,498,614 shares of company stock worth $951,441,747 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.75. The company had a trading volume of 7,331,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,311,854. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $561.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $71.33. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.63.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.60.

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.