Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Acquires 24,444 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 182.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,875 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,444 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 11,470 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,909 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,543 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,245,000 after purchasing an additional 10,317 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 13.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 73,360 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after acquiring an additional 8,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.1% in the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $67.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $544.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.07 and its 200-day moving average is $59.29. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.97.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $180,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,502,762 shares of company stock valued at $951,475,618. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.