HCR Wealth Advisors Acquires 397 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

HCR Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,957 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Walmart were worth $2,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% during the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 189.4% in the 1st quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $55,213,000 after purchasing an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 290.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 200,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 643,848 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,740,000 after purchasing an additional 421,366 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.32.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.10. The stock had a trading volume of 9,570,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,313,674. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.82. The firm has a market cap of $643.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.