RFG Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

by · The Markets Daily

RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Free Report) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 94,331 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,033 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $80.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $77.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.39. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $650.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

Read Our Latest Analysis on WMT

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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