Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Great Diamond Partners LLC

Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 79.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,051 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,334 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. 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 purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased 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 valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased 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 valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $71.03 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $71.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $571.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.09.

About Walmart

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.