Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Buys 2,926 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 849,801 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. Walmart makes up about 1.6% of Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $68,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Walmart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,353,881,000 after buying an additional 484,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Walmart by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $84.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $678.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.92, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.53. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $85.79.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.