Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 33,040 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 234.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,150 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 33,040 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,436,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 5,806 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $915,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital raised its position in Walmart by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,232,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Walmart by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.44.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $242,737,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,398 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $166,661.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 463,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,239,034.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,527,738 shares of company stock valued at $953,190,060. 45.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT traded up $0.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.74. 12,177,778 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,287,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.85 and a 12-month high of $71.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.51. The company has a market cap of $569.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.08. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Walmart Company Profile

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.