Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Stake Increased by Guardian Asset Advisors LLC

Guardian Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 32.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,220 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,374 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up 1.7% of Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. USA Financial Formulas increased its holdings in Walmart by 18.2% in the third quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 14,755 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. High Note Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 62,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,208 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 149,892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,104,000 after acquiring an additional 7,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Walmart by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 55,842 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $81.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total transaction of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares in the company, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.97, for a total value of $242,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 381,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,862,930.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,337,670 shares of company stock worth $958,267,937 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WMT traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $80.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,237,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,273,332. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.61. The firm has a market cap of $644.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current 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.