Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 473,783 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 316,259 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises 1.0% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $28,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 80.9% in the first quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 1,600,767 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $96,318,000 after acquiring an additional 715,871 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 193.2% in the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 20,797 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,251,000 after acquiring an additional 13,704 shares during the period. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 200.0% in the first quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,768 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 5,845 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 218.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,554,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $153,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751,066 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.47.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $68.24 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $548.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share 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.