Smithfield Trust Co Buys 2,431 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,621 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $3,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in 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 worth $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,479,259 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,492,200,000 after acquiring an additional 15,290,936 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,766,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,353,881,000 after acquiring an additional 484,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,095,946,000 after acquiring an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.49.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the sale, the insider now owns 630,501,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction of $2,348,559.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,873,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,322,993.92. This trade represents a 0.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock worth $958,823,647 over the last 90 days. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMT opened at $87.18 on Thursday. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.85 and a 1 year high of $88.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $81.75 and its 200 day moving average is $73.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $700.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current 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.