Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. Invests $1.55 Million in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,792 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,552,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 199.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Walmart by 183.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 212.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after acquiring an additional 9,544,958 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 3,633,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 636,898,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,544,840,574.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,498,614 shares of company stock worth $951,441,747 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Walmart stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.64. 9,298,585 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,325,607. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $560.15 billion, a PE 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 has a fifty day moving average of $67.71 and a 200 day moving average of $61.63.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. Walmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMT. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Walmart from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Walmart from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Walmart 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.