Royal Fund Management LLC Acquires 68,978 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 145,436 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,978 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $11,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,225,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after buying an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMT. Citigroup upped their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.96.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock traded up $0.45 on Wednesday, reaching $80.16. 858,603 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,297,904. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $644.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.88 and a 200 day moving average of $68.52. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of Walmart 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,937 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.