Darwin Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 33,933 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 181.0% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Walmart by 1.8% during the second 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,492,200,000 after buying an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.0% during the 3rd 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 increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,873,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This represents a 0.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Walmart from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.31.

Walmart Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $86.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $88.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $693.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 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.