Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Planning Directions Inc.

Planning Directions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,786 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,201 shares during the quarter. Planning Directions Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Walmart by 11.9% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Walmart by 212.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in 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 during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.77. 5,724,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,384,641. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $71.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.02. The stock has a market cap of $569.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,527,738 shares of company stock worth $953,190,060 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.09.

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.