Grimes & Company Inc. Purchases 9,043 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 197.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,632 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 9,043 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Northwest Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Walmart by 199.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

WMT opened at $67.71 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.07 and a 200-day moving average of $59.41. The company has a market capitalization of $544.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $69.04. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,499,762 shares of company stock valued at $951,294,838 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Walmart 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.