Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires 136,500 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 111.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,200 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,500 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMT. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 162.2% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 36,080 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 22,321 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 206.5% during the 1st quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,558 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $515,000 after acquiring an additional 5,766 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 198.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 640,713 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,552,000 after acquiring an additional 425,711 shares during the period. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 192.6% during the first quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,723 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Walmart in the first quarter worth $1,013,000. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.47.

Walmart Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.04. The company had a trading volume of 21,586,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,917,258. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $70.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.90. The stock has a market cap of $563.37 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock valued at $953,023,399. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.