R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,150 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,100 shares during the period. Walmart comprises about 1.6% of R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 73,360 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after purchasing an additional 8,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,502,762 shares of company stock worth $951,475,618. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $67.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.29. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $69.04. The stock has a market cap 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.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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.