Inspire Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st 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. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after buying an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Walmart by 16.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $81.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $654.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $81.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total transaction of $207,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,267,901. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

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.