Navalign LLC Boosts Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Navalign LLC increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 203.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,246 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 18,944 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 0.6% of Navalign LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 5.2% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,103 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 34.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,410,000 after purchasing an additional 15,115 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 17.7% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 19,784 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walmart by 366.8% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

WMT stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Monday, hitting $68.90. 12,421,807 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,132,594. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $554.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.85, for a total value of $877,406.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 658,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,031,755.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock worth $950,549,592 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.97.

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.