Evermay Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 198.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,228 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,141 shares during the period. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walmart by 183.0% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Walmart by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Walmart by 212.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Walmart in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.37. The stock had a trading volume of 4,198,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,285,344. The firm has a market capitalization of $557.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $71.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.71 and its 200 day moving average is $61.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 463,871 shares in the company, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,498,614 shares of company stock valued at $951,441,747 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.