Congress Park Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Congress Park Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 197.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,437 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,519 shares during the quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 55.4% during the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the third quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.2% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 42,101 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 150.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 10,784 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 6,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 8.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,471,450 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $235,329,000 after acquiring an additional 118,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,166,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,974,996. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $69.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.11. The firm has a market cap of $542.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,451,722 shares of company stock worth $947,990,915 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

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.