Welch Group LLC Purchases 28,840 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Welch Group LLC raised its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 205.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,907 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,840 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $2,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Northwest Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Walmart by 199.3% during the first quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMT. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walmart currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total transaction of $73,610,637.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,092,120,157.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,250,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total transaction of $82,637,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 640,532,611 shares in the company, valued at $42,345,610,913.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock valued at $950,549,592. 45.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT stock opened at $68.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $547.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.58. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $68.13.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share 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.