Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by Inspire Advisors LLC

Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% in the first 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Walmart by 16.0% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,102,463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,656 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WMT. UBS Group raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,862,930.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total value of $166,624.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE WMT opened at $81.32 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $81.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.90 and a 200-day moving average of $69.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $654.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current 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.