Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 198.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,372 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 46,111 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $4,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AHL Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the 1st quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 15,785 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 7,816 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its position in Walmart by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 58,301 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,191,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 204.3% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.47.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total value of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE WMT opened at $68.24 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $69.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.65. The firm has a market cap of $548.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

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.