Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Bell Investment Advisors Inc

Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 218.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,326 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc’s holdings in Walmart were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Walmart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $800,454,000 after acquiring an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock worth $953,190,060 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.9 %

Walmart stock opened at $70.40 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $566.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.50. 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 fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $71.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.09.

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.