Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 175,808 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 204.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 261,986 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 175,808 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 1.4% of Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 212.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 187.4% during 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. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock valued at $954,424,817 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Three research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.78. 16,789,306 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,217,879. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.75. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $71.33. 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 firm has a market cap of $561.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 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 the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.