Paragon Capital Management LLC Has $424,000 Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Paragon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 217.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,044 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,824 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Walmart by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 140,080 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $22,084,000 after purchasing an additional 44,271 shares during the period. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,000. Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,806 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $624,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in Walmart by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 152,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $23,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.47. 3,156,942 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,271,824. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $71.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $566.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.57.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.55, for a total value of $228,523,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 648,504,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,498,614 shares of company stock worth $951,441,747. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.44.

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.