Raymond James & Associates Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 0.7% of Raymond James & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.20% of Walmart worth $1,102,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Landmark Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Landmark Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.79.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WMT traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $73.45. 19,872,144 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,647,650. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $74.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.37. The company has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock valued at $725,932,010. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.