Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 387,540 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,128 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $31,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Walmart by 479.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after acquiring an additional 484,196 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 11,351,354 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $916,622,000 after buying an additional 159,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $90.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $726.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $90.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.75.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

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.