Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Shares Purchased by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,281 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 494 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Walmart were worth $54,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 126,558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC now owns 11,803 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Walmart by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,737 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walmart by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Finally, BOS Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart in the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Walmart from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Friday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Walmart from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.48, for a total transaction of $159,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 170,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,228,817.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.48, for a total transaction of $159,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 170,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,228,817.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 473,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.75, for a total value of $73,727,377.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 241,479,146 shares in the company, valued at $37,610,376,989.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,493,773 shares of company stock worth $1,005,802,298. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $165.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.07 and a 1 year high of $165.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.29. The firm has a market cap of $444.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.49.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. The business had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walmart Inc. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walmart Profile

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.