Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 37.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 121,360 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,329 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $8,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the first quarter worth approximately $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its position in Walmart by 189.4% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after acquiring an additional 600,521 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 290.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,250,000 after acquiring an additional 200,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $80.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $647.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.51 and a 200-day moving average of $66.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $80.68.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com upgraded Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. HSBC raised their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

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.