14,822 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Purchased by RIA Advisory Group LLC

RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 14,822 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,197,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Walmart by 284.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart by 8,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,963,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $562,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,885,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP increased its stake in Walmart by 186.6% during the first quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 10,332,775 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $621,723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,727,200 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.25. 17,370,602 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,192,850. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $85.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $677.22 billion, a PE ratio of 43.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.51.

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, beating 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.