Bellecapital International Ltd. Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Bellecapital International Ltd. raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 289,550 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares during the quarter. Walmart comprises approximately 4.6% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $23,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Walmart by 1.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Walmart by 3.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,353,881,000 after purchasing an additional 484,196 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Walmart by 5.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.96.

Walmart Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WMT stock traded down $0.35 on Monday, hitting $80.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,681,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,057,994. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $650.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $81.82.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,781,873,820.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total transaction of $209,607,941.31. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,901. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.