Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Has $7.66 Million Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 185.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,280 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,700 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $7,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 20,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,232,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walmart by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Walmart by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,014 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WMT. Citigroup lifted their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMT traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.63. 8,002,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,316,547. The company has a market capitalization of $560.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.50. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $71.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $67.71 and its 200-day moving average is $61.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

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

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $242,737,840.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,544,840,574.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 8,791 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $597,788.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 94,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,420,220. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,498,614 shares of company stock worth $951,441,747 over the last three months. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.