Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 29.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,440 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sageworth Trust Co increased its position in shares of Walmart by 2,414.3% during the 1st quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 176 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 58.3% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Knott David M Jr purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Walmart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 33.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE WMT opened at $160.18 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.53. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $136.09 and a fifty-two week high of $169.94.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The retailer reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.47% and a net margin of 2.23%. The company had revenue of $160.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $708,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 269,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,597,278. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 4,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $708,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 269,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,597,278. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 169,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,390,136.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,066,701 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMT. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Walmart from $175.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Walmart in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Walmart from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.36.

Walmart Company 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.