Foster Group Inc. Has $927,000 Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Foster Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 194.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,409 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,167 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $3,674,652,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth about $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 15,371.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $553,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,530 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 14,035.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,274,428 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $200,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,412 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. HSBC upped their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.97.

Walmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $68.03 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $68.13. The company has a market capitalization of $547.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Walmart’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.45, for a total transaction of $1,760,545.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,047,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,687,515.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.45, for a total transaction of $1,760,545.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,047,767 shares in the company, valued at $244,687,515.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total transaction of $82,910,840.61. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 633,518,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,211,325,061.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock valued at $950,549,592 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.