Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Purchases 471,016 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 198.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 708,146 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 471,016 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $42,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,386,389.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock worth $953,190,060. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $70.75 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $71.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.20. The company has a market capitalization of $569.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 4.08 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

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.