Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 408,282 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $24,566,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 2,035 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,556 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,261 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,705 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova R Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Nova R Wealth Inc. now owns 5,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, hitting $69.18. 12,521,194 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,295,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.92 and its 200 day moving average is $61.98. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $71.33. The company has a market capitalization of $556.45 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.60, for a total value of $926,625.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 632,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,648,499. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus 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.