Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,733,519 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,730 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $139,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 201.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Walmart by 165.4% in the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,255,000 after purchasing an additional 168,346 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 168.9% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,531,461 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $92,148,000 after buying an additional 961,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 193.3% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 74,195 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,464,000 after acquiring an additional 48,895 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Melius Research began coverage on Walmart in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,054,909.80. This trade represents a 0.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE WMT opened at $90.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.75. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $90.91. The company has a market capitalization of $726.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.