Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Has $389,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,750 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 40,974 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.79, for a total value of $2,736,653.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 635,512,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,445,890,427.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock valued at $730,497,016. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.64. 14,548,588 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,411,770. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $616.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.81.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on WMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Roth Mkm upped 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

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.