Zega Financial LLC Purchases 4,058 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Zega Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 199.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,096 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,058 shares during the quarter. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WMT. Barclays increased their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. HSBC raised their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.09.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.90. 6,142,297 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,387,672. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $71.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $570.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G 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, 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 the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

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.