Blair William & Co. IL Raises Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,527,952 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,857 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Walmart were worth $171,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 199.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in 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 period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of WMT opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $81.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.48. The company has a market capitalization of $631.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Company 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.