Steele Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 211.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,336 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,656 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walmart were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Walmart by 200.0% in the first quarter. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC now owns 7,128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC increased its holdings in Walmart by 316.3% in the 1st quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC now owns 175,887 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,583,000 after acquiring an additional 133,639 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walmart by 208.7% during the 1st quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Walmart during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000. Finally, Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Walmart by 237.6% during the first quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 4,973 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Walmart from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com lowered Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Walmart from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 390,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total value of $1,728,561.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 390,165 shares in the company, valued at $26,367,350.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction 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 owns 645,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,025,828. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock valued at $953,023,399. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Price Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $68.24 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.65. Walmart Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $69.04. The stock has a market cap of $548.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.50. 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 (NYSE:WMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current 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.