Founders Financial Securities LLC Acquires 20,844 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 184.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,135 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 20,844 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at $3,674,652,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 boosted its position 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, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 207.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,279,715 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $137,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537,828 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $67.71 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.41. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $69.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $544.63 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. 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 earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares in the company, valued at $270,851,892.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,499,762 shares of company stock worth $951,294,838. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMT shares. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.97.

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.