GDS Wealth Management Acquires 12,104 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 4.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 258,607 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,104 shares during the period. Walmart accounts for 1.9% of GDS Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $17,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,972 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,631 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 27,823 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,386,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,814,810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $286,105,000 after buying an additional 31,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803 in the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $80.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $647.88 billion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $81.02.

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. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

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.