Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,754,829 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 296,550 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 0.9% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $186,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. AHL Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 192.1% in the first quarter. AHL Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 15,785 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Walmart by 189.4% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 917,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $55,213,000 after buying an additional 600,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 290.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 270,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,250,000 after buying an additional 200,947 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,369,039 shares of company stock worth $959,826,083. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $79.06 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.02. The company has a market capitalization of $635.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.44 and a 200-day moving average of $66.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 2.34%. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Company 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.