Covestor Ltd Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 207.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,556 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Walmart by 212.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $844,514,000 after buying an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.44.

Walmart Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Walmart stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,545,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,261,695. The company has a market cap of $568.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.51. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060 in the last ninety days. 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.