Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Investment Management Corp of Ontario

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 34.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 187,830 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 48,200 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after buying an additional 2,107,197 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,298,000 after buying an additional 8,834 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Walmart by 21.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after purchasing an additional 105,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 14.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WMT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.88.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock worth $753,365,984. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Walmart stock opened at $92.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $92.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $744.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 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.