Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 65,048 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,214,990 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,048 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Walmart were worth $149,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart during the first quarter valued at $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 290.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock worth $788,678,803. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of WMT opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.90 and a 200 day moving average of $66.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 4.03 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.

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 net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMT shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart 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.