Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 409,415 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 83,564 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $33,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,135,639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,098,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200,004 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Walmart by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Walmart by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,522,369,000 after purchasing an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 23,273,933 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,879,370,000 after purchasing an additional 228,121 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,300,460 shares of company stock worth $570,820,065. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.11.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT stock opened at $95.32 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $95.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $766.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.71.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.