45,382 Shares in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Purchased by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 45,382 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,692,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walmart by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,269 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in Walmart by 36.8% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 4,820 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Walmart by 31.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 123.9% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 10,566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Walmart by 1.7% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 857,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $127,749,000 after acquiring an additional 13,985 shares during the last quarter. 33.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total value of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,369,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $213,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 242,553,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,838,348,496. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $161,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,862,773 shares of company stock valued at $1,219,366,298. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $164.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.83 and a 200-day moving average of $152.20. The company has a market capitalization of $442.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $128.07 and a 1-year high of $165.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 21.47%. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $174.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.51.

About Walmart

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 under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.