Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 284.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,225,552 shares during the quarter. Walmart accounts for about 0.7% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.14% of Walmart worth $669,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew 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 worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew 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 worth $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 187.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Walmart Price Performance

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $69.78. The stock had a trading volume of 16,789,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,217,879. The company has a market capitalization of $561.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $71.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.75.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total value of $1,899,758.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,989,526 shares in the company, valued at $260,236,780.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.23, for a total value of $1,899,758.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,989,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $260,236,780.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of the company’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 transaction of $228,523,137.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,540,863 shares of company stock worth $954,424,817 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.