Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 181.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,487 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,765 shares during the quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after acquiring an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings 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 valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the first 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total value of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.09.

Walmart Trading Up 0.3 %

Walmart stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,414,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,367,908. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $71.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $571.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.02.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

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.