Davis R M Inc. Acquires 1,413 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Davis R M Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 12.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,548 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Walmart by 201.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,092 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,397 shares during the period. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 165.4% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 270,147 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,255,000 after buying an additional 168,346 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Walmart in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 180.7% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 93,833 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,646,000 after acquiring an additional 60,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Walmart by 248.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 732,829 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,091,000 after purchasing an additional 522,238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.12, for a total value of $246,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 378,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,054,909.80. The trade was a 0.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.96, for a total transaction of $1,088,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 593,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,198,598.40. The trade was a 2.17 % 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 quarter. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $89.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.14. The stock has a market cap of $719.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.51. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $90.95.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.