Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases 47,878 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 345,418 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,878 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $29,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CAP Partners LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% in the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 0.6% in the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walmart by 2.1% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,677 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 2,709,163 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.37, for a total value of $209,607,941.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 630,501,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,781,873,820.76. This represents a 0.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total value of $313,228,886.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,337,337 shares of company stock valued at $958,823,647. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $83.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.88.

Walmart Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of WMT stock opened at $90.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $726.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.75. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $90.91.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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.