Norway Savings Bank Purchases 3,484 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Norway Savings Bank boosted its position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 197.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,250 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,484 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Walmart were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 11,470 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.5% during the third quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,909 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walmart by 63.6% during the third quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,543 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,245,000 after buying an additional 10,317 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 13.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 73,360 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after buying an additional 8,747 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Walmart by 4.1% during the third quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. 26.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMT shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Walmart from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Walmart from $63.33 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Walmart from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.97.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total value of $1,991,790.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.39, for a total transaction of $1,991,790.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,960,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,851,892.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.20, for a total value of $895,125.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 645,540 shares in the company, valued at $44,025,828. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,502,762 shares of company stock valued at $951,475,618. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE WMT opened at $67.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $64.07 and its 200 day moving average is $59.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Walmart Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.85 and a 12 month high of $69.04. The stock has a market cap of $544.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.52.

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