Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) by 201.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,670 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,830 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Walmart were worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,674,652,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 183.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 29,172,985 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,755,339,000 after purchasing an additional 18,865,484 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 212.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 14,035,473 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $844,514,000 after purchasing an additional 9,544,958 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 184.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 12,567,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $756,188,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,393 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Walmart by 199.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 7,639,240 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $459,653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,087,119 shares during the last quarter. 26.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMT. HSBC lifted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Walmart from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.83.

Insider Activity at Walmart

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 521,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 25,578 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total transaction of $177,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 521,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,816,896.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,525,340 shares of company stock worth $953,023,399 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Down 0.9 %

Walmart stock opened at $69.79 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $561.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 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 Inc. has a one year low of $49.85 and a one year high of $70.45.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $161.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.57 billion. Walmart had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 21.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share 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.