Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Has $291,000 Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 182.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,841 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Walmart were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,674,652,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Walmart during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,419,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 15,371.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,511,225 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $553,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,530 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Walmart by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,235,920 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,190,194,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in Walmart by 14,035.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,274,428 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $200,914,000 after buying an additional 1,265,412 shares in the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of WMT opened at $68.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $549.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. Walmart Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.85 and a 52-week high of $69.04.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.57% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total transaction of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,386,389.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total transaction of $180,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 524,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,613,179.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.82, for a total value of $1,944,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 144,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,386,389.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,451,722 shares of company stock valued at $947,990,915 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. HSBC upped their price target on Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Walmart from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.97.

Walmart 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.