Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Bought by Guardian Capital Advisors LP

Guardian Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 99.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,922 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,716 shares during the period. Guardian Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related 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 value of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total transaction of $1,899,758.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,989,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,236,780.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $69.78. The stock had a trading volume of 16,789,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,217,879. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.81. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $71.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share 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.