Washington Trust Bank Purchases 1,554 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Washington Trust Bank boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,044 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 399 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at $33,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter valued at $25,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 138.3% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Cultivar Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total transaction of $246,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMT. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Truist Financial raised Walmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $76.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.89.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of WMT traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $83.62. The company had a trading volume of 547,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,732,740. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.67. The company has a market capitalization of $672.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $85.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

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.