Hodges Capital Management Inc. Buys 14,359 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 133,957 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,359 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $9,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Walmart by 58.3% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Finally, Hyman Charles D lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 23,280 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,306,511 shares of company stock valued at $420,470,807 in the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,706,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,355,699. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $77.81. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.91 and its 200 day moving average is $65.08. The stock has a market cap of $619.11 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMT. HSBC boosted their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.64.

Walmart 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.