Truist Financial Corp Purchases 7,668 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,943,988 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,668 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Walmart were worth $267,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 11.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 164,143 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,114,000 after buying an additional 16,545 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $283,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 149.3% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 258,248 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,486,000 after purchasing an additional 154,641 shares during the period. Traction Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 5.7% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 84,178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $80.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $649.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.71. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $81.60.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.61, for a total transaction of $2,056,445.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,931,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,589,163.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,334,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,025,027 over the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.