First Affirmative Financial Network Makes New Investment in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,479 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Walmart by 199.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,745,334 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $24,774,717,000 after acquiring an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Walmart by 181.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,421,342,000 after purchasing an additional 36,625,314 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 36,282,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,456,704,000 after purchasing an additional 644,353 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Walmart by 16.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,282,129 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,463,000 after buying an additional 2,246,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Walmart by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,184,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,095,946,000 after buying an additional 834,005 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Walmart from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.32.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In other Walmart news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,123,611.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.04, for a total transaction of $1,063,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 606,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,123,611.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.19, for a total value of $207,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 387,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,787,946.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,337,670 shares of company stock valued at $958,267,937 over the last quarter. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $80.09 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $81.60. The company has a market cap of $643.78 billion, a PE ratio of 41.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.51.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 21.72%. The company had revenue of $169.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walmart

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.