Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 100.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 481,818 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 241,914 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $38,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 274,229,968 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Walmart by 181.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,456,704,000 after acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 484,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 834,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 1.2 %

WMT stock opened at $84.83 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.92. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.85 and a twelve month high of $85.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $681.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.11, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Walmart in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Walmart from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.48, for a total transaction of $232,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 384,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,765,104.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,765,104.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647 in the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.