Hanlon Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Hanlon Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 10.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,750 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 534 shares during the quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Walmart by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after acquiring an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 187.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,674,100 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,687,998,026.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,144,237 shares of company stock valued at $730,497,016 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.99.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.64. The company had a trading volume of 14,548,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,411,770. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $616.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $77.81.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.