Investment Management Corp of Ontario Boosts Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 187,830 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,200 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Walmart were worth $15,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,848,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Walmart by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,236,769 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,522,369,000 after buying an additional 350,881 shares in the last quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 21.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 587,001 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,400,000 after buying an additional 105,430 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Walmart by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,235,504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $503,517,000 after purchasing an additional 809,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $92.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $744.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.54. Walmart Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.85 and a 1-year high of $92.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,993,095.80. This trade represents a 6.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.20, for a total transaction of $313,228,886.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,673,023 shares of company stock valued at $753,365,984. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Walmart from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Walmart from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.88.

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.