Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 41,024 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27,383 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 worth $3,190,194,000 after buying an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Walmart by 212.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after buying an additional 9,544,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.75. 11,665,526 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,789,591. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $71.33. The firm has a market cap of $569.08 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was 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 $6,420,220. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock worth $953,190,060 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.