IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $35.87 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 240,863 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,256 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $35,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,239,022 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,496,676,000 after purchasing an additional 201,552 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,925,852,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 10,881,290 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,574,414,000 after purchasing an additional 801,954 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,601,132 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,533,877,000 after acquiring an additional 584,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Walmart by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,526,788 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,523,024,000 after acquiring an additional 341,661 shares during the last quarter. 30.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a “maintains” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Walmart from $166.00 to $142.00 and set a “maintains” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.33.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $132.05 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.86 and a 200-day moving average of $137.46. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $117.27 and a one year high of $160.77. The company has a market cap of $361.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 17th. The retailer reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.18). Walmart had a net margin of 2.26% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The firm had revenue of $141.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.13, for a total value of $1,185,638.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,517,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,290,750.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 29,124 shares of company stock valued at $3,638,461 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 47.06% of the company’s stock.

About Walmart

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Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units 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; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.

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