Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Buys 22,441 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 248.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,457 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 22,441 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Walmart by 199.3% in the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.81, for a total value of $798,131.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 645,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,253,888.77. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at $31,613,179.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock worth $950,549,592 in the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Walmart Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $68.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $547.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.52. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $68.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Company 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.