Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 717,824 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 263,718 shares during the period. Walmart makes up 0.7% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Walmart were worth $48,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,232,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Landmark Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Landmark Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walmart by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lee Financial Co grew its position in shares of Walmart by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 4,076 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.64. The company had a trading volume of 14,548,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,411,770. The stock has a market cap of $616.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $77.81.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 40,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.79, for a total value of $2,736,653.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 635,512,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,445,890,427.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock valued at $730,497,016. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMT. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Profile

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.