Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC Purchases 2,338 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,516 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,159.6% in the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 361,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $57,057,000 after purchasing an additional 333,187 shares during the period. Cannell & Co. grew its position in Walmart by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 8,974 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $342,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,713 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC now owns 463 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.64.

Walmart Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $77.23 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.47. The stock has a market cap of $621.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.55 and its 200-day moving average is $64.73.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $1,674,847.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 415,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,222,851.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $1,674,847.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 415,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,222,851.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares in the company, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,332,089 shares of company stock worth $422,145,654. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.