Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Acquired by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 117.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,524,414 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 822,616 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $103,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 759,835 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,448,000 after purchasing an additional 57,137 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the second quarter worth about $263,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 2.4% in the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 258,242 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $17,486,000 after buying an additional 6,081 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,225,000. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $865,000. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.96.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT opened at $79.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.52. 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 company has a market capitalization of $641.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $81.60.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results 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. 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 earned $0.61 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 359,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total value of $28,139,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 603,989,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,262,194,181.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,317,999 shares of company stock valued at $956,341,379 over the last ninety days. 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.