Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 8.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,966 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,450 shares during the quarter. Walmart makes up about 0.4% of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Walmart were worth $19,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Walmart by 3.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,214,990 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $149,977,000 after acquiring an additional 65,048 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,002 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,896,000 after buying an additional 3,719 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 202,427 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,706,000 after buying an additional 9,275 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 263,911 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,869,000 after buying an additional 43,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Walmart by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,202 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMT. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.99.

Walmart Stock Performance

NYSE:WMT opened at $78.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Walmart Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.85 and a fifty-two week high of $81.02. The stock has a market cap of $631.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.48.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The retailer reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $168.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total value of $74,215,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 610,843,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,537,610,048.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 934,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.46, for a total transaction of $74,215,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 610,843,318 shares in the company, valued at $48,537,610,048.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,203,360 shares of company stock valued at $788,678,803 in the last ninety days. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.