Paragon Capital Management Ltd Purchases 7,913 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 188.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,117 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,913 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Walmart were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Walmart by 199.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walmart in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.85, for a total transaction of $877,406.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 658,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,031,755.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.85, for a total value of $877,406.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 658,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,031,755.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 1,132,123 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.02, for a total value of $73,610,637.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 647,371,888 shares in the company, valued at $42,092,120,157.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,493,971 shares of company stock valued at $950,549,592. 45.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Walmart from $64.33 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.97.

Walmart Stock Down 0.1 %

Walmart stock opened at $67.91 on Monday. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $68.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $546.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52.

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

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.