Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 20,225 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 402,600 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 20,225 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $27,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $173,000. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Walmart by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 15,731 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,705 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Walmart by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 4,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $468,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’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 $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000,613 shares of company stock valued at $725,932,010. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.45. 19,872,144 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,647,650. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.32. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $74.44. The company has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.79.

About Walmart

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.