Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Holdings Boosted by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its stake in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,549 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 664,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,019,000 after purchasing an additional 139,220 shares during the period. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 38.7% in the second quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,734 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 8,017 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 254.3% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 2,859 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 3.5% during the second quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. now owns 10,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 38,366 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $77.35 on Tuesday. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $77.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $621.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The business had revenue of $169.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 1,244,347 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.63, for a total value of $82,910,840.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 633,518,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,211,325,061.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,375,563 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.96, for a total transaction of $182,823,328.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 619,646,544 shares in the company, valued at $47,687,998,026.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,510,437 shares of company stock worth $487,759,176 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.99.

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.