Waterloo Capital L.P. Acquires 43,134 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 215,044 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,134 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.7% of Waterloo Capital L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $14,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 18,865,484 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.48. 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 twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 94,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’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 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 $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.