Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Boosts Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,596 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,806 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Walmart by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,232,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart 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 directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.38. 12,659,851 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,393,395. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $71.33. The firm has a market cap of $566.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company 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 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.09.

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.