National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,383,729 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,655 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Walmart were worth $160,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walmart during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Walmart by 183.0% in 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. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,306,511 shares of company stock valued at $420,470,807 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMT. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $76.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,995,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,371,836. The company has a market cap of $615.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.09 and its 200-day moving average is $65.16. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $77.81.

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