Keynote Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,122 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% during the first 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first 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. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 212.6% in the first 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. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Trading Down 1.9 %

WMT traded down $1.33 on Friday, reaching $68.46. 23,578,664 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,048,109. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $71.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.35. The company has a market cap of $550.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director S Robson Walton sold 3,540,250 shares of Walmart 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 transaction, the director now owns 648,504,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,860,933,910.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,537,863 shares of company stock worth $954,247,577. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.60.

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.