Eagle Ridge Investment Management Buys 6,288 Shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management raised its stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 200.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,432 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,288 shares during the quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Walmart were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Buffington Mohr McNeal lifted its stake in Walmart by 190.5% in the first quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 18,918 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 12,406 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 226.8% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 58,831 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,540,000 after buying an additional 40,828 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 217.3% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,751 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Walmart by 198.2% in the first quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,372 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,174,000 after buying an additional 46,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walmart by 200.0% in the first quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 5,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 3,460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $1,728,561.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.03, for a total transaction of $1,748,313.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,018,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,239,559.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Trading Up 0.2 %

WMT stock opened at $68.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.65. Walmart Inc. has a 52 week low of $49.85 and a 52 week high of $69.04. The company has a market capitalization of $548.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS 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 business had revenue of $161.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Walmart’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.47.

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.