Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,335,740 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 485,569 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $90,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Walmart by 16.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.64. 14,548,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,411,770. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $71.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $616.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $77.81.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released 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. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.99.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the sale, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock worth $730,497,016 over the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.