Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,982,456 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,242,072 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $240,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 274,229,968 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Walmart by 181.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 56,861,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,342,000 after buying an additional 36,625,314 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Walmart by 187.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 13,303,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $800,454,000 after buying an additional 8,674,100 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart by 284.0% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,122,273 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $669,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225,552 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Walmart by 184.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $756,188,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,393 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walmart

In related news, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder S Robson Walton sold 4,057,369 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 611,988,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,245,498,149.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 2,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.69, for a total transaction of $166,624.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 457,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,915,110.17. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,295,088 shares of company stock valued at $955,284,831 over the last three months. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walmart Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $83.05 on Friday. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $83.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.08. The company has a market capitalization of $667.58 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WMT. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Walmart from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.51.

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.