Fmr LLC Acquires 7,200,004 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Fmr LLC increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,200,004 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $5,098,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,720 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Elios Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Walmart during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 14.2% in the third quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,726 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 53,049 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after buying an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified LLC boosted its holdings in Walmart by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total value of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. This represents a 0.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $89.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $719.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.29 and a 200 day moving average of $74.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $90.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

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.