Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by MWA Asset Management

MWA Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,961 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 231 shares during the quarter. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 167.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 95,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 59,580 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the third quarter valued at $14,511,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 845.9% in the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 518,984 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $41,908,000 after purchasing an additional 464,118 shares during the period. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 57.2% in the third quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 5,007 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,821 shares during the period. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the third quarter worth about $242,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.98.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,063 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.76, for a total transaction of $166,607.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 459,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,113,904.08. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $86.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.34. The stock has a market cap of $696.11 billion, a PE ratio of 45.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $88.29. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current 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.